Time for Plan B
by chromeknickers
Summary: Life doesn't always go according to plan, so sometimes you need contingencies. But what if your backup plan fails? Mix in a reverse-Oedipus complex, something about a pig, and set it all in the year 1975 and you're bound to have some serious issues—serious psychological issues.
1. Not Exactly Foolproof

Not Exactly Foolproof

**.**

**.**

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

The harsh blaring from the alarm sounded in her ears like drill—a persistent, _beeping_ drill. She reached out and smacked the alarm, hitting it a few times with her face still buried in the soft feather-down pillow. Apparently she wasn't striking the right button for the stupid machine was still blasting away, antagonising her like a relentless harpy.

She muttered a few colourful expletives into the pillow and absently felt around her bed, searching for her wand. Her fingertips felt wood and she grasped the wand tightly in her hand. Flipping over onto her back, she aimed her wand at what she hoped was the alarm clock.

"_Silencio_!"

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

"Merlin's left nut!" she cursed groggily and turned over onto her side.

Eyes closed, she reached around and picked up the damnable beeping object, pulled its cord out of the socket, and pitched it across the room.

Silence.

Ginny Weasley let out a relieved sigh and smiled lazily as she rolled over onto her stomach. She wrapped both arms around the fluffy pillow and held it close, snuggling her face into the clean linen.

She had to admit that she really hated Muggle appliances. She didn't see how Hermione could tolerate a machine that blasted away in your ear with incessant squawking, at least one that couldn't easily be silenced with a wand. It was unnatural. Sure, she had most likely botched the spell with her mumbling, and she probably hadn't even directed her wand at the alarm itself, but she still stood by her convictions: Muggle appliances were frustrating.

After another hour of blissful, uninterrupted sleep, Ginny finally rose from bed with a yawn and stretched her stiff limbs. She ambled her way out the door, smacking her lips distastefully as she went. Her teeth were in a desperate need of cleaning.

Letting out another loud yawn, Ginny rubbed at her tired eyes with the edge of her palms and teetered down the unfamiliar hallway in search of a toilet. Fortunately, she located one but had to go back to her room to retrieve her toothbrush. After a good scrub of her teeth and attending to other toiletries, Ginny made her way down into the kitchen to be greeted by an already dressed and smiling Hermione. The redhead looked down at her own blue pyjamas covered in small yellow ducks and frowned.

"Hey, Ginny. Did you have a good sleep?" Hermione cheerfully pulled out the chair beside her and patted the seat with a smile.

Ugh, a morning person.

Ginny nodded sleepily and sat down. A goofy grin spread across her face when she saw that her friend had made her Scottish pancakes covered in butter and syrup. Beside the plate stacked with heavenly pastries were a large glass of fresh orange juice and a cup of hot tea. Hermione must have used a Heating Charm to keep Ginny's tea and pancakes warm. The redhead's lopsided grin morphed into a beaming smile.

"I love you, Hermione," she cooed before digging in.

Hermione Granger truly was a dear friend. She had invited Ginny to stay with her at her family's house in London for the last few weeks of August. The summer after the Hogwarts battle was one of the hottest on record. For many it was a time of celebration. Harry had won, defeating Voldemort. Most of the Death Eaters had been arrested, some even willingly surrendered, and others had fled into the night. It was the Order's victory over evil. It _was_ a time for celebration, but it was also a time for mourning—to pick up the pieces of lives torn and displaced by the war.

Ginny had appreciated the invite from Hermione, as she really needed to get out of the Burrow. The family had taken Fred's death hard, especially George. While Ginny had made herself available to her older brother and her mother for support, she had also felt the desperate need to flee from her family. It wasn't that Ginny was callous or unaffected by her brother's death; in fact, she was crushed and devastated by it. Ginny, however, dealt with her sorrow differently than the rest of her family; she internalised it. In order to prevent herself from imploding, Ginny needed to lose herself in something, whether it be in friends, sports or school.

She was looking forward to going back to Hogwarts, which was currently being reopened by the Ministry under the capable tutelage of Professor (now Headmistress) McGonagall. Harry, Ron and Hermione would also be attending, repeating their seventh year since they hadn't attended school the year before. In fact, all former seventh-years were allowed to return since not much had been taught the previous year, nor were NEWTs taken.

"My parents are gone for the weekend!" Hermione sing-songed, shaking Ginny from her reverie. "I thought you might like a change of pace from going to museums and plays. Did you want to stay in and watch movies?"

"Moo-vees?" Ginny asked with a mouthful of pancakes, regarding the brunette with a puzzled expression.

"Yes, they're like moving pictures that tell a story."

Ginny swallowed. "Neat. Sure, okay, I'd like to see some moo-vees."

Hermione smiled at her in a way that made the redhead frown, like it was an inside joke that Ginny hadn't been let in on. What kind of moo-vees did Hermione have in mind? After Ginny hurriedly scarfed down her breakfast, both girls took their tea into the entertainment room and Hermione began rummaging through her collection of moo-vees, or cassettes, as she called them.

"This one's called _Back to the Future_," she said, holding up some square-looking object, and Ginny frowned.

"That makes no sense."

Hermione laughed. "Yeah, I know. That's Hollywood for you."

Ginny tilted her head to the side. "I don't understand. Is this moo-vee about wands?"

"Wands? What?" Hermione asked, uncharacteristically nonplussed. "Oh, holly _wood_!" A light seemed to go off above the brunette's head. "No, Ginny, this film, or movie, isn't about wands. It's about—well, let's just watch, shall we?"

Hermione smiled and popped the cassette into an odd-looking device before turning on something called a tee-vee or a telly. The picture began to flicker and words appeared on the screen, and then a lion roared, which slightly disturbed the redhead. Finally, the picture opened with some weird contraptions and, after a while, a boy showed up on screen playing some weird musical instrument.

After an hour and a half, Ginny was literally on the edge of her seat. Her mouth was hanging open in wonderment and her eyes seemed to bulge out of their sockets.

"That was amazing!" she cried as the credits rolled on the screen, and Hermione smiled.

"I'm glad you liked it."

"Liked it? I loved it!"

Ginny then got up from the settee and went into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of water. Hermione joined her, taking a seat on one of the stools on the other side of the island counter. She opened the cabinet below and took out a packet of crisps, which she then opened and poured into a bowl.

"So how do you think Harry and Ron are doing at Grimmauld Place?" Hermione asked, as Ginny took a sip of her water.

"Destroying it?" she said a little too seriously, causing Hermione to snort aloud.

Harry had stayed at the Burrow until mid-July before finally moving into Sirius's old home. She missed him, obviously, but he came back to visit her on her birthday. It was then that he invited Ron to stay with him for the rest of the month. Ginny would have loved to have gone too, but her parents would not have approved of her sleeping, without chaperone, at her boyfriend's house for three weeks.

She had just been reunited with Harry and yet she barely saw him the entire summer. It was just her luck. At least she would see plenty of him at school starting next week.

"Ron just needed to get out of the Burrow like me."

Hermione slowly nodded. "Ginny," she began awkwardly, "I never got to say at the funeral how sorry I was—_am_—about Fred."

"It's hit George the hardest," Ginny said, her voice faltering. "He really hasn't been the same. None of us have." She shook her head, determined not to dwell on the heartache. "Anyway, I don't really want to talk about that right now. Tell me, what classes are you taking this year?"

Startled by the Ginny's sudden change in mood and topic, Hermione eyed Ginny cautiously for a moment before answering the younger girl's question. She listed a number of subjects, all alphabetically, and chatted animatedly about what she hoped to achieve with her NEWTs.

Ginny simply smiled while Hermione talked. She could always trust the older witch to distract her from her own misery.

"How can you be taking Runes _and_ Divination?" Ginny asked, suddenly cluing in to what classes Hermione had listed. "They're both offered at the same time. I know because I had to settle for Runes." She furrowed her brow. "Better yet, why are you taking Divination at all? Don't you hate Professor Trelawney?"

Hermione grinned and rubbed her hands together in glee, causing Ginny to look askance at the brunette. It was like watching a mad scientist cackle over her diabolical doomsday device.

"Well, as you know, Firenze is teaching Runes," Hermione said joyously. "And supposedly they've got a new professor for Divination this term as Trelawney is on sabbatical."

"But how can you take two classes at once?"

"A Time-Turner," Hermione answered simply, and Ginny's widened in awe.

"Wow, you have one of those?" She had heard about Time-Turners from Percy. "I thought we destroyed the Ministry's supply when we sneaked into the Department of Mysteries?"

Percy had also informed her of this, although he wasn't as impressed as she had been at the time.

"We did," Hermione confirmed. "But the Ministry was able to locate a few in certain Death Eaters' homes and Professor McGonagall acquired one for me, special."

The brunette beamed with pride and Ginny laughed, leaning in to nip a crisp from the bowl. Hermione grabbed the bowl and the rest of the packet and headed back into the living room with Ginny following closely behind.

"So, did you want to watch the sequel to _Back to the Future_?" Hermione asked, glancing over her shoulder at the redhead. "I think I have it here somewhere." She bent down and picked up another case from the pile on the floor. "Yup, I do."

Ginny set down her glass and jumped on the settee, making herself comfortable. "There's a sequel?"

"Two, actually."

Hermione looked over at the redhead, waiting for the green light to put in the video cassette. Ginny nodded and folded her legs underneath her.

"All right, I'm up for it."

Hermione giggled, popped the tape inside, and walked back over to the couch to take a seat beside the anxious redhead. As the moo-vee began to play, Ginny reached across the seat and scooped up a handful of crisps.

"Hermione?"

"Yes, Ginny?"

"What's a sequel?"

**.**

**.**

**.**

The gentle sounds and motion of the train lulled Ginny into a languid state, bordering on slumber. She couldn't help but let her mind wander to images of the past as well as the present. She and Hermione had met up with Ron and Harry at the train station. Her brother and the older girl had openly snogged on the platform, whereas Harry had just leaned down and gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek.

Ginny didn't mind all that much. She really wasn't in the mood to start snogging him in public and she had never been much for PDA in the first place. She still had a lot of things on her mind, mainly the death of Fred.

Ginny had always been exceptionally close with the twins. While Charlie was her favourite brother because he always doted on her and was considered the black sheep of the family, she rarely saw him. Bill, on the other hand, was too old and Percy was too... Percy, and Ron was too close in age. It was true that she and Ron used to be best mates, but when he went off to Hogwarts and made two new best friends, she was left alone. This was when she started to get close with Fred and George.

The twins were like the middle child of the family, always looked over so they had to do outrageous acts in order to be noticed. Since most of their pranks were never played on their baby sister, Ginny always saw their antics as fun rather than annoying. When she finally went to Hogwarts, it was the twins who had looked after her, not Ron, making sure no one teased her or made her cry. Many times they had wreaked havoc with Draco's hair when the git had dared to tease her for being a Weasley or poor. They were also the ones who taught her the Bat-Bogey Hex.

Now more than ever Ginny missed those antics as the two had always managed to bring laughter and happiness into almost any situation, no matter how dire. Without Fred, George was the shell of the boy he once was. He was withdrawn and brooding. He had lost his humour, his spark that made him George; he had lost a part of himself. So in essence Ginny had two brothers taken from her at the Battle of Hogwarts. While so much had been gained by Voldemort's defeat, much had been lost, too.

If only she could go back in time and save Fred from being killed. If only there was a way to alter the past. If only...

"I hear Headmistress McGonagall is on the train to ensure the safety of the students," Hermione said, shaking Ginny from her musings.

"I guess she doesn't want to have a term like Snape did," Ron said with a snort, popping a chocolate frog into his mouth.

"Ronald Weasley!" Hermione admonished tone, glancing sideways at Harry.

"Oh." Ron swallowed hard and tried to look contrite. "I'm sorry, Harry. I wasn't thinking."

"It's okay," Harry said, but there was a hint of sadness in his green eyes. Who'd ever think that Harry would feel bad for Snape? Who's ever think that he'd be missed?

Ginny let out a tired sigh and rose from her seat. She walked over to the compartment door and slid it open.

"Gin, where are you going?" Ron asked, and Ginny motioned to the aisles.

"For a walk. I need to clear my head."

Ginny made her way out into the open aisles and began a leisurely stroll, passing by the many closed compartments. Not every seat on the train was secluded. Most people sat out in the open, which made it rather loud but loads more fun. She used to sit out here, laughing and joking with her housemates. It wasn't until she started dating Harry (and was allowed into the inner circle) that she had begun to take her place in the private compartment.

It was all right she guessed, but she did miss being outside in the aisles where all the action took place. Ginny wasn't looking for action this time, though. She just wanted to be alone—to sit in silence and think to herself.

Heading towards the back of the train, Ginny hoped that there'd be more empty seats or even a compartment near the caboose. The noise began to lessen to a dull roar as she made her way back. Eventually she found an empty section and lowered her head, heading over to take a seat.

"If it isn't The Girl Who Dates Potter," a familiar voice stated with unrestrained bitterness.

Ginny looked up to see a tall, pale blond blocking her path. Where had he been hiding? She had only looked down for a second.

"Sod off, Malfoy!" she spat, pushing past him. "I haven't the patience to deal with your shite right now."

She suddenly stopped dead in her tracks and turned around. Unfortunately, she had made her way to the end of the line. Now she would have to actually face the git. And why exactly did this boy have to accost her? Boy? Well, she supposed he wasn't much of a boy anymore. Draco had apparently grown taller this past summer, filling out quite nicely, she had to begrudgingly admit. He looked a little rough around the edges, a little older. But he was still a useless tosspot in her opinion, no matter how much broader or fitter he got.

The tosspot in question turned to face her and made a formal bow, elegantly extending his hand. This action would have looked natural on the regal and haughty-looking blond if the formality had not been directed at her.

"Well, if it's not convenient for Her Majesty, the She-Weasel, then by all means I shall take my leave." He managed to bow even lower but then looked up at her with an ugly sneer plastered on what would have otherwise been a somewhat handsome face.

"Screw you, Ferret-face!" she spat, hating how much of a prat he was, and Draco brought himself up to full height and looked down his nose at her.

"You wish, Weasley."

"Tosser!" she snarked, unable to halt her rising temper, which seemed to always boil over in the presence of the pale Slytherin.

"Cow!" he roared back, less in control than normal.

The two stood across from each other like enemies on opposite sides of the line. They looked about to wage war at any moment when Headmaster McGonagall intervened.

"Enough! Break this up immediately," she commanded, turning to look at Draco first. "Mr Malfoy, you should know better." She then directed her attention to Ginny. "Ms Weasley, I expect more from you."

Both students lowered their heads and muttered forced apologies, or at least Ginny did. Draco just glared at Ginny. The professor then cleared her throat, continuing to glance down at them disapprovingly.

"The term hasn't even started yet and I'm this close to deducting house points." She held up her hand and separated her index and thumb by an inch.

Just then loud shouts could be heard coming from the other end of the train and the headmaster glanced back at the pair with a scowl before turning around and disappearing back into the throng of students.

Once McGonagall was out of sight, Draco took a step forward and glared at Ginny, boring a hole through her head with his gaze.

"I've got my eye on you, Weasley," he said warningly, pointed a long finger at her before turning back down the aisle towards his own compartment.

"Yeah, well I've got _both_ of mine on you, you manky pillock!" she yelled at his back in vain.

Ginny saw Draco's shoulders tense and then he raised his index and middle finger, offering her a two-finger salute as he kept walking straight ahead, not once looking back. She cursed under her breath and gnashed her teeth with a frown.

This was going to be a long first day.

**.**

**.**

**.**

As luck would have it, Hermione was bunked with Ginny, as one of the younger Gryffindor's old housemates would not be returning. They were never told why, but Ginny could only guess: Hannah Jenkins was Muggle-born.

The other girls had already unpacked and headed down to the Great Hall for the Sorting. Ginny was still flitting about so she waved Hermione to go on without her, telling the older girl that she would be down shortly. When Hermione left, Ginny threw her luggage chest onto the floor and the rusted, old lock busted open, spilling all of her clothes out onto the carpet.

"Poppycock!" she swore aloud, falling to her knees as she hastily grabbed her clothes and other sundries and tossed them back into her old trunk.

She finished throwing the last pair of socks inside when something underneath Hermione's bed had caught her eye. It was silver-looking, twinkling in the dusk-light that filtered in through the large bay windows. Ginny frowned and, in a rather unladylike manner, began to crawl over on her hands and knees towards Hermione's bed. She shoved an arm underneath the lower frame and reached for the shiny object. The tips of her fingers touched cold metal and she closed her fist around it and pulled it out.

Ginny glanced down at her hand in wonder. It was a small white-gold pocket watch with a long chain; however, it didn't appear to tell the time. It had several dials on it and what looked like numbers, but it seemed as though these numbers could only be made visible through a spell of some kind.

_This must be the Time-Turner_, Ginny thought to herself as she traced a finger along the bottom of the device.

She held the 'pocket watch' tightly in her hand and then glanced around the room, seeing if anyone was there. Ginny then pocketed the device and grabbed her wand and robes, running out of the common room and exiting the Gryffindor Tower. She was not heading to the Great Hall for the Sorting. Instead, she was making her way outside.

Everyone was inside the Great Hall, including Filch, so she could easily sneak out onto the grounds. Ounce outside, she headed towards the lake and took the Time-Turner out of her pocket and stared at it. She then slipped the chain over her head and felt the weight of it rest on her neck and chest.

Ginny knew she shouldn't be doing this. It was Hermione's to use, not hers. If she were caught using it, she would surely get into a heap of trouble. In her heart though, she felt that she had to do this. It was like that moo-vee she watched at Hermione's—Marty went back in time and managed to make his life and his parents' lives better. She wasn't looking for wealth or fame or accolades of any kind. She just wanted to go back to the battle at Hogwarts and stop her brother from being killed.

That wouldn't hurt anyone. It wouldn't change the future for the worse, would it? No, it wouldn't. It would only change for the better. She was going to do this.

Ginny fumbled with the smaller dial, unsure of what spell to perform or how to work the bloody thing. After a few unsuccessful attempts, she began to wish that the device had come with an instruction manual.

"What have you got there, Weasley?" a cold voice drawled behind her, and she cringed. "Pilfered some hapless bloke's pocket watch?"

"Stuff it, Malfoy!" she muttered under her breath, trying to hide the Time-Turner down the front of her Oxford blouse.

Why was he following her? Draco Malfoy, of all people!

"That's right. Talk dirty to me, Weasley," he purred in her ear as he came up behind her, making her shudder. "It won't sway my opinion that you're an ugly hag."

Ginny ground her teeth and tried desperately not to whip out her wand and hex the smarmy bastard into the lake. Instead, she took off down the beach, away from him. Draco, however, didn't seem intent on being ignored and quickly followed at her heels.

"So whom'd you lift this offa?"

He reached over her shoulder to grab at the large gold chain around her neck and Ginny immediately turned around and slapped his wrist, causing him to draw back his well-manicured hand. She had earned herself a rather petulant and scathing look from the blond for that. Unfortunately, however, this physical reprimand only seemed to encourage Draco. This time he reached forward guardedly and snaked his fingers around the chain.

"Malfoy, give it back!" Ginny growled, trying to tug the Time-Turner out of his grasp, but he would not relent.

"You've stolen this from someone, Weasley. The likes of you could never afford something like this. It looks slightly less than worthless."

She narrowed eyes and pulled the chain back with more force than she had intended. "You arrogant git!"

"Just give it to me, Weasley, and I'll convince the Headmistress to go easy on you," he said unconvincingly, yanking the Time-Turner from her neck.

The chain then snapped in two with Draco holding one half while Ginny held the other.

"Malfoy, don't—"

She tried to warn him, but it was too late. The witless wonder had already reached out to grab the larger dial, inadvertently turning it.

"What the—?"

Both stared dumbfounded at the device as it began to emit a weird sort of humming noise. Draco looked up at Ginny with wide, accusing eyes, and she could only stare at him in open incredulity. The humming sound grew louder until it was almost deafening and a feeling of vertigo seized them both. The lake and surrounding grounds began to whirl past them in swirling colours.

"Mother-fu—"

The humming noise ended and the spot by the lake where two figures had stood arguing was now void of its former human occupants.

Draco and Ginny were gone.

* * *

**Author's notes:** This is my first Time-Turner fic, so I hope you like it. It is mainly a humour/action piece with a little bit of romance. Also, many thanks to Kim (Boogum), who beta'd this story for me. You are the best-est! ^_^

It should be noted, as you'll discover later, that this particular Time-Turner is an experimental one that was mislabelled. Instead of going back by hours, this one goes back by years and is not yet tracked by the Ministry.


	2. Limited Options Of Which None Are Good

Limited Options Of Which None Are Good

**.**

**.**

Ginny tried her best to steady herself by grasping onto Draco's shoulders. The trip back in time was rockier than she had anticipated. Hermione had not told her such a nauseating feeling of vertigo accompanied time travelling, but then again Ginny never asked. She supposed people got used to time travelling. Ginny, however, was not one of them. Neither was Draco.

Unimpressed, the blond shrugged Ginny off him and took a shaky step forward, dropping the chain of the travelling device. He stopped, steadied himself, and brought his forefinger and thumb to the bridge of his nose with a sigh.

"Pray tell, what just happened?"

Ginny, who was still holding on to the other end of the dangling chain, pocketed the Time-Turner with a shrug. "I think we went back in time."

She turned around and took in their surroundings. They were still at the lake and it was still light out. The sun had yet to set. Maybe they had only gone back a few hours.

"Went back in time? That's rich, Weasley." Draco lowered his hand and issued the redhead his moth scathing glare. "What did you do?"

"_Me_?" Ginny placed her hands on her hips. "I didn't do anything. You're the one who broke the chain and activated the Time-Turner!"

One of Draco's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. "Time-Turner? You have got to be kidding me." He cocked his head to the side. "Where did you steal one of those?"

Ginny bristled indignantly at his insinuation and folded her arms beneath her breasts a huff. He was such a diplomat. So maybe she had 'borrowed' the Time-Turner, but it wasn't like she was some sort of thief-in-the-night. He made it sound so immoral. She had a legitimate excuse for taking the Time-Turner... sort of.

"Well, no matter." Draco sighed, glancing up at the school while he adjusted his tie. "We probably only went back a few hours."

Ginny nodded in reluctant agreement and watched as he strode past her, heading towards the school. After a brief moment, when he hadn't stopped or turned back to see if she was following him, Ginny dropped her arms to her sides and took off after him. She had to run to keep up with his long strides.

"What are you doing?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder when he heard her puffing.

"Going back inside."

She kept in step with Draco, which only seemed to annoy and galvanised him into walking even faster.

"Well, don't follow me!" he hissed, and Ginny glowered, determined to keep pace with the arrogant git.

"How else am I supposed to get into the school?"

"I don't care how you do it, Weasley. Just don't walk beside me or behind me or within a hundred feet of me."

Wow, that left her with a lot of options.

"Tosser," Ginny muttered, and Draco tsked.

"Such manners, Weasley."

"You're one to talk."

The two had inadvertently made their way towards the Quidditch field near the changing rooms. Ginny suddenly stopped dead in her tracks when she saw a familiar-looking blond striding towards the small building, coming from the direction of the field. He was tall with long silver-blond hair, of average build but with broad shoulders, obviously fit. He was in full Quidditch gear with a broom in hand, yet there appeared to be no one else on the pitch.

"That bloke looks like you!" Ginny said to Draco, pointing a finger at the handsome stranger. "But he can't be you. He's taller and his hair is longer and he's much broader than you and he—"

"Yes, Weasley, I'll thank you to stop with the comparison."

"Do you have any relatives attending Hogwarts this term?"

"No." Draco glanced over at the stranger and pursed his lips in a frown.

They both walked towards the changing rooms, watching the tall blond who carried himself with unmistakable poise and confidence. It was almost a swagger. Draco's eyes narrowed as he took in the other blond's physique. The blond in question then turned, looking back towards the school and exposing his face.

Draco's jaw dropped open.

"Malfoy, is that your—?"

"Father."

Ginny and Draco exchanged glances, mouths open. That couldn't be Lucius Malfoy. He looked eighteen at the most. There was no way they could have travelled that far back in time to when Draco's father was a teenager. Time-Turners didn't go back in years—did they?

Draco's doppelgänger disappeared inside the Slytherin boys' changing room and the two curious teenagers took off in a sprint after him. Both were intent on finding out who this Draco look-a-like was.

"Do you know how to perform a Disillusionment Charm?" Draco asked, his voice barely above a whisper as they made their way to the opening of the boys' locker room.

Ginny shook her head. She was supposed to have learnt how to do that in her sixth year, but there wasn't exactly a lot of teaching going on at the time.

Draco rolled his eyes with a scowl, knowing he'd have to perform the spell for her. He tapped the top of her head with his wand and it felt like he had cracked and egg over her head. Once they had both Disillusioned themselves, Draco put his index finger to his lips to indicate silence as they sneaked into the room.

Once inside, several musky and unpleasant odours assailed Ginny's nostrils and she tried hard not to cover her mouth and gag. She crept along the walls closely behind Draco, holding onto the fabric of his robes. He reached his hand behind his back and slapped at hers—his subtle way of telling her to let go. They had silently made their way to an empty stall several metres away from the unsuspecting blond, who was the only one in the room.

Ginny wondered why the stranger was in full uniform if no one else was playing. She couldn't help but gaze at the tall boy. Up close he was even more attractive. He had pale grey eyes, like Draco's, but his face was slightly different; his jaw was squarer, for one. He was obviously bigger than Draco too, though not overtly muscular. His chest and shoulders appeared very broad, especially when accentuated with the slender cut of his waist. His thighs and calves were long and lean, rather uncommon for a man of his size, yet they suited him. He was the definition of a teenage heartthrob.

Too bad Draco didn't look this fine.

"Is this your father?" Ginny whispered, and Draco nodded with a grimace.

"From what I have seen in pictures, yes, this is him."

Ginny bit down on her bottom lip and watched as the taller blond began unbuckling his belt with one hand while pushing his long, white-blond hair out of his face with the other.

"Your dad is quite the yummy bloke," Ginny purred in Draco's ear, and the blond snapped his fingers in front of the redhead's face.

"Hey! Remember that same _yummy bloke_ gave you a cursed diary!"

"Oh, right." Ginny frowned. Right, delicious here—Lucius, that is—was the git who had allowed Voldemort to possess her. She couldn't let his youthful good looks dissuade her of his future wrong-doings.

Just then the epitome of yum lifted his Quidditch jersey up over his head, discarding it on the bench across from his locker. His naked torso was hairless and smooth, not a trace of sweat on his sculpted body. Ginny's mouth watered. _This_ was Draco Malfoy's father? By Merlin, this man was gorgeous!

"Mother of Circe!" Ginny said, wiping the drool from her chin. "Tell me, Malfoy, do you look that good topless?"

She then looked the blond up and down, unabashedly appraising his form. Draco scowled and gripped Ginny by the elbow, quietly dragging her out of the changing room. He had seen enough.

"Stop looking at my father like that!" he hissed, and Ginny ripped her arm free from Draco's tenacious grip.

The two exchanged few words after that and managed to sneak out of the room undetected. Removing the Disillusionment Charm, both walked back towards the school in a daze, trying to register what had just happened.

"So," Ginny began slowly, "we went back in time to when your father was what—seventeen, eighteen?"

Draco, who had begun to sway on his feet, looked as though he was about to vomit. "Yeah, I guess so."

Ginny tried to do the maths but couldn't, for the life of her, figure out when Draco's father was born.

"I think we're in the Seventies," Draco said, reading her mind, and Ginny frowned.

Had they really gone back in time almost twenty years? Impossible. This had to be a mistake.

Glancing up, Ginny noticed that they had absently wandered into the school. Both she and Draco stopped in their tracks and stood back, watching the throng of incoming students take to their respective dormitories with luggage in hand.

Apparently it was the first day of school for whatever time period they were in, and this explained why Draco's father had been alone on the field. He must have arrived at school early and was testing his abilities. Either he was the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team or extremely dedicated.

"I don't recognise you two," an authoritative voice spoke up, diverting Ginny's train of thought.

Both Draco and Ginny looked up to see a slightly younger-looking Professor McGonagall. The sour expression of disdain on her face, however, was still the same.

"We, uh—" Ginny fumbled with a response and turned to Draco for support. The grey-eyed blond merely stood still with his mouth closed. So much for the cunning of Slytherin.

The Transfiguration professor observed the teenager with keen eyes and then curled a long, bony index finger. "You two will come with me."

It was the first day of school some twenty years in the past and they were still finding their way into trouble.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Professor McGonagall escorted Draco and Ginny to Dumbledore's office with neither party saying a word. Draco would occasionally glance over at Ginny, shooting metaphorical daggers at her with his eyes, while she tried her best not to pull out her wand and hex the blond git right there.

As they neared Dumbledore's office, the somewhat younger McGonagall spoke a password and the door opened, revealing a passageway that led to a set of winding stairs. The teenagers ascended the steps with trepidation, not quite sure what lay in store for them.

The Gryffindor Head of House rapped her knuckles on the door and a familiar voice commanded them to enter. The door opened and they hesitantly stepped inside. Dumbledore looked up from his desk with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eyes. He looked exactly as how Ginny remembered him and she could not help but smile at the former headmaster. Draco, on the other hand, kept his gaze fixed on his feet.

"And who have you brought me today, Minerva?" Dumbledore asked, peering over the rims of his half-moon spectacles.

"I found these two wandering the halls," Professor McGonagall said, waving to the two students. "I've never seen them before and their robes look a little odd."

Dumbledore's lips pursed into a slight frown. "Yes, thank you, Minerva. I'll have a talk with these two on the matter."

McGonagall nodded briskly and headed out the door, leaving the matter in the capable hands of the headmaster. Dumbledore pointed to two seats in front of his desk, but neither Ginny nor Draco moved from their original spots just inside the door. The white-haired wizard merely smiled at their reluctance and decided to stand up to greet them instead.

"You are both students here at Hogwarts?"

"Yes," Ginny replied immediately, if not somewhat nervously.

The wizard then directed his attention to Draco, who had failed to answer. The blond's eyes remained fixed on his shoes, but then he finally managed to mutter a 'yes' in concurrence.

"Why is it that I have never seen either of you before?"

"Uh—" Ginny fumbled for an explanation, but Draco cut her off.

"It's a rather large school."

"Very true," the headmaster agreed. "But I'm expected to know all of my students. Tell me, what year are you both in?"

"Seventh," Ginny replied quickly, and Dumbledore nodded, noting the redhead's anxiety.

"How is it that your robes and uniforms are different?"

Draco and Ginny briefly exchanged glances. By the look on Draco's face one would assume that if the blond were to attempt to send a telepathic message to the redhead right now, he would tell her to keep her gob shut. Instead, both students returned their gazes to the floor.

"You're not actual students of Hogwarts, are you?"

Dumbledore's voice had now taken on a certain edge and Ginny glanced up, shocked.

"N-no, we are. It's just that—"

"Weasley!" Draco cut her off with a hiss, and Dumbledore tugged at his long white beard in contemplation.

"_Weasley_? I had an Arthur Weasley graduate a few years ago. Are you of any relation?"

Ginny swallowed thickly and nodded. At this Dumbledore raised a bushy white eyebrow and smiled.

"That's very interesting considering Arthur comes from a family of all boys."

Draco, who had his arms crossed over his chest, lowered them and clenched his hands into fists. He threw a nasty glare Ginny's way, which she shrunk at.

"A-actually, I'm his cousin," she lied awkwardly, and Dumbledore's smile widened.

"As far as I know there hasn't been a Weasley girl born for a score of years."

"Oh," was all that Ginny could say. Why had she forgot this?

Draco rolled his eyes and muttered a few colourful expletives under his breath.

"And your name, young man?" Dumbledore asked, turning his attention to Draco now. "You do look rather familiar."

Draco looked down at his feet and refused to answer. Ginny glanced over nervously at the blond and shifted on her feet.

"If neither of you want to tell me your names, then I'll have to assume that you are not students and I'll be forced to notify the Ministry—"

"No, wait!" Ginny frantically waved her hands in front of face and took a bold step towards the headmaster. "Wait, please! I can explain."

"Weasley!" Draco hissed, an unmistakeable threat in his tone, and Ginny gave the blond an equally scathing look.

"No, we have to tell him, Malfoy."

"_Malfoy_?" Dumbledore repeated, and his eyes brightened. He turned to Ginny and nodded. "Yes, my dear, I think you best tell me what's going on."

Ginny briefly glanced over at Draco, who was violently shaking his head. She turned to look back at the headmaster and took in a deep breath.

"Professor, my name is Ginny Weasley and this—" she motioned to the grey-eyed blond standing beside her "—is Draco Malfoy."

Draco lifted his head towards the ceiling and closed his eyes as if in prayer, letting several more loud profanities escape his lips. But Ginny just ignored him and continued.

"You see, we're from the future—from the year 1998."

"Oh my," Dumbledore breathed, genuinely surprised.

He took a seat behind his desk and Ginny reached into her robes' pocket, pulling out the Time-Turner. She hesitantly stepped forward and held the device out to the headmaster. He gently took it from and examined it with a concentrated frown.

"If you could just tell us the right spell to activate the dial, then we could set it to return home to our time," Ginny suggested somewhat pleadingly, and Dumbledore regarded her with a thin smile.

"I'm afraid this is the first time I have ever encountered a device like this before," he said, and Draco's and Ginny's mouths dropped open in shock.

"You've never seen a Time-Turner before?" Draco scoffed.

"Oh my yes, I have," the headmaster said, ignoring Draco's slight. "But this is not an ordinary Time-Turner."

"It isn't?" Draco and Ginny asked simultaneously.

Dumbledore shook his head. "No, Time-Turners generally don't take you this far into the past." He sighed and carefully set the device on his desk. "I cannot allow you to fiddle with the dials and throw yourself even farther back in time. And, to be honest, I'm not even sure if this Time-Turner can take you back into the future—your present. I must research this and find a way to safely get you back to your own time."

Draco and Ginny sighed and exchanged brief glances. They could only pray to Merlin that the device could take them back to the future. There was no way they could live out their lives here in the past with one another.

"How long will that take?" Ginny asked, and Dumbledore shrugged.

"I don't know. It could be weeks or even months."

"Months!" Draco exclaimed in horror, and the headmaster smiled.

"Have no fear. I will personally look into this matter."

Draco rolled his eyes, far from assured. "And what do we do in the meantime?"

"Well, this may take a while so you might as well join our school regimen," the headmaster suggested with a smile, which quickly faded to a serious expression. "I must, however, insist that both of you never tell me or anyone else in this school about the future. We cannot change what is meant to be."

Ginny nodded. "That sounds fair. But why do you want us to join the school? Wouldn't that change things?"

"Not necessarily." Dumbledore shrugged. "Besides, would you rather remain locked up in a room until I fix this? No point in boring yourselves to death. You might as well learn while you're here."

"Locked up in a room?" Draco's brow had creased in angry confusion, and Dumbledore sighed.

"Yes, you see if the Ministry were to find out that the two of you have a Time-Turner and misused it, you would both be imprisoned." The teenagers opened their mouths in shock. "That's why I must work on the Time-Turner in secret. The two of you most likely have already been spotted by some of the students and professors. By introducing yourselves as exchange students, it will be less likely for others to ask too many questions concerning your parentage and family, etcetera."

Draco and Ginny exchanged glances, this time shrugging their shoulders in unison. They didn't particularly like being stuck together in this time, but it was better to be matriculating amongst other students at school rather than being locked up together in a room for Merlin knew how long.

"However, we cannot have the two of you as you are now," Dumbledore said with a far too gleeful clap of his hands. "We must give you different names as both of your families are rather well-known, especially yours, Mr Malfoy. I'm assuming you are Lucius's son."

Draco scowled and reluctantly nodded in affirmative.

"And Miss Weasley," the headmaster turned towards the girl, "that red hair is unmistakeable, but I can remedy that quite easily."

Ginny opened her mouth in confusion and then watched as the older wizard took out his wand and performed a complex Glamour Charm, turning her straight, long red hair into even longer blonde hair with defined waves and ringlets at the bottom. Her honey-coloured eyes were now a sea green and the numerous freckles on her face and arms were replaced with a healthy pink glow on ivory-set skin. Her facial structure and everything else about her remained the same. She was still Ginny yet she looked like an entirely different person—almost beautiful.

"There, Miss Weasley," Dumbledore said with a smile. "You shall now be known as Geneviève Belette from Beauxbatons. And you, Draco, will be Drago Unglaub from Durmstrang—Hogwarts' two new exchange students."

Draco stared openly at Ginny, having ignored most of what the professor had just said, before quickly turning away in disgust. Ginny didn't know what to say or do as Dumbledore began altering her dress so that it looked more like the Beauxbatons' uniform, which was much more sophisticated and feminine.

The headmaster then went to work on Draco's uniform, much to the blond's chagrin. After a few minutes he had them both completely transformed. Dumbledore had offered to change Draco's look but the blond refused. If Draco and Ginny didn't know any better, they would have assumed Dumbledore was a natural stylist and a gifted tailor (and was having way too much fun with this make-over).

"Wait!" the old wizard called out, as the two students fiddled with their new clothes. "In order to make this believable I am going to have to perform a spell that allows your voices to be disguised. You will both have accents."

They both looked at him quizzically.

"What do you mean, Professor?" Ginny asked.

"Well, if you are to be from a foreign school, you must have the correct accent," he explained with a wink. "We will have it so that you two can understand each other but those around you will only hear your respective _foreign_ languages."

Both continued to stare blankly at the headmaster, nonplussed.

"Mr Malfoy," Dumbledore began, "when you speak as you are now, to anyone else except Miss Weasley and yourself, you will be speaking German. I trust you know how to speak German?"

"Yes."

"Good." Dumbledore nodded contently. "So when you speak German, to others it will be as though you are speaking English but with a German accent. And Miss Weasley, the same goes for you except with French. Do you know any French?"

"A bit," she answered sheepishly.

"Well, that will have to do. Obviously you can both write in English." He then beamed at the two 'exchange' students, who still looked at him with puzzled and somewhat vacant expressions.

"Professor, why is it that only _I_ will be able to understand Malfoy when he speaks English when he is, in fact, speaking German to everyone else listening?" Ginny asked, confusing herself with her own question.

"That's because this charm is much like the Secret-Keeper spell; only you will know the truth. I'll teach it to both you and Draco so that you can use it on one another."

"This sounds like a dreadfully complicated plan," Draco snarked, and Dumbledore merely grinned.

"This is Hogwarts, Mr Malfoy." He motioned to their surroundings with a dramatic wave of his hands. "It's not complicated; it's magic."

"No," Draco muttered, hooking a thumb back at Ginny. "I'm fairly certain it's both."

Professor Dumbledore laughed and then went straight to work, showing them an extremely complicated spell that they dearly hoped to get right.

**.**

**.**

**.**

The Sorting began shortly after their lengthy conversation with the headmaster. Dumbledore escorted the two teenagers to the Great Hall and placed them behind the first-years, who were nervously waiting to be introduced and sorted.

Once all the first-years had been accepted into their proper houses, the headmaster called for everyone's attention as he announced that Hogwarts would have two exchange students this semester: Geneviève Belette from Beauxbatons and Drago Unglaub from Durmstrang.

The hall went silent, save the quiet whispers amongst the different houses. Many comments were made about how pretty the blonde-haired girl was with her big green eyes and beautiful hair. There were also many nods and voiced observations on how the Durmstrang bloke looked an awful lot like Lucius Malfoy.

"Miss Belette, if you could take a seat here and put on the Sorting Hat."

Dumbledore kindly pointed the way and Ginny nervously walked over to the chair and sat down. She tentatively picked up the hat and hesitated. She didn't know why she was so nervous. She had done this six years ago. It wasn't as if anything was going to change. Maybe she was self-conscious about her new clothes and new hair. She felt as if someone was going to call her out on the lie and expose her for who she truly was. It also didn't help that all eyes were on her, judging her.

Ginny smiled faintly at the crowd, who were staring at her with mild rapture and curiosity. Finally gaining her courage, she lifted the hat and placed it on her head. After a moment's pause it began to speak loudly in her mind, frightening her at first. It sounded angry.

_**What is this? Why are you here?**_

_I'm Gin—_

_**I know who you are! I asked why are—bah, never mind. Why have you put me on? You have already been sorted.**_

_Yes, I know. Could you please just sort me back into Gryffindor?_

_**I'll do no such thing.**_

_What?_

_**You heard me.**_

_But—_

_**No 'buts'. You shouldn't be here. Your presence is a mockery to the sorting process!**_

_I'm sorry, but—_

_**What did I just say about 'buts'? No. If you want to play around and be re-sorted into the same house, then you are in for a rude awakening, my dear.**_

_Wait—what?_

"SLYTHERIN!" the Sorting Hat cried.

Applause erupted from the Slytherin table and Ginny took off the hat, numbly standing up in a state of shock. She could faintly hear Draco snickering behind her and the dull roar of approval coming from the far corner of the hall. She passed Dumbledore, who stopped clapping to pat her back in a congratulatory manner, and made her way down the stairs as though she were in a trance.

The house of green and silver was cheering rather loudly and a few boys gave her appreciative glances, winking and whistling. Several moved to make room for her and she finally took the seat closest to her, beside a first-year. The blushing little raven-haired boy brushed away whatever crumbs or dirt might have been on the bench and she absently smiled at him before she sat down.

"Merci," she muttered quietly, forgetting that she had to actually speak French in order for anyone to understand her.

Those around her grinned foolishly, already taken in by her supposed charm—her French accent, that is. Ginny had failed to notice, however, that a tall and stately blond was observing her from the other end of the table, appraising her with critical grey eyes.

Back at the Sorting line, Draco was still laughing. He never thought a Weasley would ever be sorted into Slytherin, but it served Ginny right for getting Draco into this mess. While he didn't fancy being in the same house with her, he wouldn't mind watching her get knocked down a few pegs by his fellow housemates.

He was still snorting to himself when Dumbledore introduced him. He went over and picked the hat up, confidently placing it on his head. He waited for a moment and heard nothing until a loud growling noise suddenly erupted in his mind.

_**Another one?**_

_Yes, another one to sort. So sorry to tax you and make you do a job that you only have to perform once a year._

_**A smart-arse too, huh? That does it.**_

_Listen, _Hat_, just sort me into—_

"GRYFFINDOR!" the Sorting Hat cried.

_What?_

The applause from the Gryffindor table was somewhat less than exuberant; however, Draco didn't notice. He seemed to have gone temporarily deaf and blind. He slowly rose to his feet, trying to take in the information: the hat had sorted him into Gryffindor. Gryffindor!

He stumbled down the stairs, looking paler than usual, and made his way to the table of his newly appointed house. He was trying desperately not to vomit on the floor. A few awe-struck girls moved aside and offered him a seat and he shakily sat down, swallowing thickly and glancing down at his dinner plate in disgust.

This couldn't possibly be. He was in Gryffindor and Ginny was in Slytherin! This had to be some sort of cruel joke, a dream. No, it was a nightmare! It had to be. Soon he'd wake up in his bed in his dorm room and discover that this was all some horrible nightmare.

**.**

**.**

**.**

The Marauders glanced up from the table, casting wary eyes on the delicate-looking blond who was just placed in their house. For a Durmstrang bloke he seemed rather slender with haughty features similar to that of the nasty git Malfoy from Slytherin.

Each then turned his attention to the other table where the little blonde French girl sat. She looked ready to pass out at any moment. They grinned.

This was definitely going to be an interesting term...

* * *

**Author**_**'s**_** notes: **I took creative license with the timeline (see in additional notes below).

**Birth dates****: **Lucius b. 1954; Cissa b. 1955; Snape, Lily & Marauders b. 1960. (My version has Lucius b. in 1958 and Cissa in 1959 while the others remain the same.)

**Geneviève Belette** is French for Guinevere or Ginevra Weasel and **Drago Unglaub** is German for Dragon Without Faith (as you all know Draco is Latin for the Dragon constellation and Malfoy is archaic French for Bad Faith).

**Durmstrang** is in Northern Europe. In interviews, JKR states that the school is in Norway or Sweden (how specific). While it is very feasible for me to have it in Sweden, I want Draco to be German and refuse to divulge the location of the school—as he has no clue where it is anyway.

Language/Accent Spell – This is a variation of the Fidelius Charm, the Secret-Keeper spell where only Draco and Ginny can understand each other perfectly. Everyone else hears them speak in either French or German while they're conversing in English to one another. In order for them to communicate with other students in English, both must attempt to speak their respective (feigned) languages. Draco is educated enough that he can speak German with ease, thus his English sounds flawless to the other students. Ginny, on the other hand, is not very gifted at French, so she will speak broken English to everyone (even worse than Phlegm—I mean Fleur).


	3. You Have Friends, I Have Enemies

You Have Friends, I Have Enemies

**.**

**.**

Ginny sat at the Slytherin table and sighed. In her mind things couldn't get much worse.

She glanced over at the Gryffindor table where she immediately spotted a younger boy who was the shocking image of Harry. He was talking animatedly amongst his mates: one was handsome and dark-haired, another was small and mousy-looking and the other was tall and skinny, looking worse for the wear. They were all acting rather conspiratorially, stealing glances at their newly acquired Gryffindor: Drago Unglaub.

_That must be James Potter and the rest of the Marauders_, Ginny mused to herself, feeling slightly star-struck.

Dumbledore had told them that it was the year 1975 but she had no idea what age that put the Marauders at. She could tell that they weren't in their seventh year, so they were most likely in their fifth or sixth.

Ginny's eyes suddenly met with Draco's and he scowled. With a deliberate motion, he pointed to the Great Hall door and then to his wrist, holding up his hand to indicate five. He wanted to meet her outside the hall in five minutes? She nodded in reluctant acquiescence and picked up her glass of milk to take a drink when she felt a light hand on her shoulder.

"Hi, Geneviève?"

Ginny turned to see a beautiful blonde with pale blue eyes looking down at her.

"Oui?" Ginny asked, forgetting that she had to actually speak French in order for everyone else to understand her. "Ah, mon nom est Geneviève, mais tu peux m'appeler Gin." She saw the confused look on the Slytherin girl's face and she racked her brain for what little French she knew. "I am Gin?"

"Oh, hello, Gin." The pale blonde smiled, which instantly made her features even more attractive. "My name is Narcissa Black, but you can call me Cissa."

Ginny's mouth gaped open before she quickly shut it. Narcissa Black? That name was familiar, as so was the girl standing in front of her. Ginny's eyes suddenly widened in understanding. This was Sirius Black's cousin—Draco's mother! She seemed a lot friendlier than she remembered her to be at the Battle of Hogwarts. She was still tall and stately like she was back then but now she not only looked younger but seemed less cold and reserved.

"Allo, Cissa," Ginny managed to choke out in surprise

Narcissa's smile widened and she artfully shooed the first-year out of his seat and sat down next to Ginny. The former Gryffindor returned the smile as she watched the boy scurry away in fright. Perhaps young Narcissa wasn't so different from her future self.

"That German bloke, Drago," Narcissa whispered, leaning in close to Ginny's ear, "is he your boyfriend?"

Ginny snapped her head back. "Quoi? Non! Jamais!" Her eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. "Comment peux-tu penser cela?"

Narcissa sat back and looked at Ginny with wide, confused eyes. Oh, right, she was speaking in French again.

"Uh, no 'e iz not," Ginny corrected herself in poor English.

Narcissa gave Ginny a sly smile while Ginny herself tried her best not to swear profusely about the blonde's future son. In what universe was Draco Malfoy her boyfriend?

"Too bad he was sorted into Gryffindor. He's very cute," Narcissa said, observing the seemingly unaware Draco with calculating eyes. "He looks a lot like Lucius Malfoy."

Ginny sneaked a peek at Draco and nodded slightly. "Oui, c'est vrai..." She paused and glanced back at the Slytherin girl. "Je m'excuse, terrible iz my anglais."

Ginny hated being so incompetent with languages. It made her sound like a stuttering idiot. Trust that Draco was probably speaking flawlessly. Bastard.

"That's all right. I think I can figure it out as long as you speak slowly." Narcissa smiled reassuringly. "Are you coming with us to the dormitories?"

Ginny gave a curt nod and pointed towards the professors' table. "Oui, mais je pense que je dois aller voir le professeur Dumbledore."

Narcissa stared at her blankly. "_That_ was not slow."

Ginny closed her eyes and mentally cursed herself before tentatively putting a hand on the blonde's slender arm. "Je m'excuse, Cissa. To Dumbledore I go see now."

"Oh, okay." Narcissa nodded. "So I will see you in the common room later?"

"Oui—yes." Ginny blushed slightly and watched as the blonde stood back up. "It iz... pleasant... see you, Cissa."

Well, that was a bit of a train wreck. But broken English was better than no English at all.

"You too, Gin. See you soon."

Narcissa waved politely and went back over to join her friends. Ginny waved back, unable to stop herself from grinning. At least she had made one friend in the past, even if it was Draco's mother. She then glanced over at the Gryffindor table, searching for silver-blond hair, and saw nothing. He must have already been waiting for her outside the Great Hall.

Some of the students had already dispersed but most were still at their respective tables, working on second and third helpings of the delicious feast. Ginny managed to make her way out, stopping only once to greet a student who had asked her to say something in French. She supposed that she would have to get used to things like that. Luckily she had to only speak English for everyone else to hear French.

"We have to get out of here!"

Turning sharply, Ginny felt someone grab her arm and pull her into the shadows. Several colourful expletives and a barely evaded right hook later, Draco managed to calm Ginny down after revealing who he was. Wresting her arm free of Draco Malfoy's tenacious grip, Ginny shot the boy a scathing look before coolly crossing her arms underneath her breasts.

"We can't leave until Professor Dumbledore is able to tell us how to operate the Time-Turner."

"I don't care!" Draco spat, stepping out from the darkness of the doorway. "Let's just take it and wing it."

"_Wing it_?" Ginny repeated dubiously.

"Weasley," Draco said with a hint of desperation in his voice, "I can_not_ be in Gryffindor,"

"How do you think I feel about being in Slytherin?" she said, raising a blonde eyebrow, and Draco scoffed.

"They seem to have greeted you rather well," he said with some disgust, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "People haven't been sizing _you_ up for a casket."

She couldn't help but laugh. Draco Malfoy couldn't seem to ingratiate himself with anyone, no matter where he went or _when_.

"People are drawn to me, Malfoy," Ginny said smugly. "I have a scintillating personality, you know. Unlike you."

"Scintillating, my foot!"

They continued bickering back and forth, occasionally pointing a finger at the other, when a few students gathered inside the door. They were observing the two foreign exchange students argue.

"What are they doing?" a Hufflepuff girl asked the Ravenclaw boy standing next to her.

"I think they're having a row."

"Yeah, but how can they understand one another?" She pointed back and forth between the two. "He's speaking German and she's speaking French."

The Ravenclaw tilted his head and closely observed the couple as they began to argue quite animatedly now, voices and tempers high.

"Well, France and Germany are neighbouring countries. They're most likely semi-fluent in each other's native tongue," he explained logically, and the Hufflepuff shook her head, unconvinced.

"Then why isn't he speaking to her in French?"

"I dunno." The Ravenclaw shrugged indifferently and turned to walk away. "Cause French is French?"

Ginny and Draco continued hurling insults at one another, not once considering the possibility that anyone else might be observing them and listening in on their conversation. They were too wrapped up in the argument—so much so that they had failed to notice the two professors who had approached them.

"Mr Unglaub," Professor McGonagall said, addressed Draco with undue formality. "I am here to show you to your room." She smiled somewhat pleasantly. "You will have your own private quarters in the Gryffindor Tower."

Draco stopped yelling at Ginny and turned to stare at the older woman. "Gryffindor has private rooms?"

The Gryffindor Head of House nodded. "Yes, all of the houses do. They used to be reserved for Head Boys and Girls and for visitors when I was young."

Ginny looked at Draco and could see him struggling not to counter with some rude response to the older woman, such as 'so when Hogwarts was first opened?' Ginny laughed to herself at the joke not made and then frowned. _She_ had just thought of that rude quip to her former Head of House, not Draco. Was she already being influence by Slytherin?

"And I will be escorting you, my lovely Ms Belette, to your own private quarters in the Slytherin dormitories," Professor Slughorn said, startling Ginny, who had not seen him there.

Draco and Ginny exchanged glances that could only be classified as abject fear. What exactly had they got themselves into?

"Say goodnight to your friend," Slughorn said to Ginny, before placing a large hand on her back and guiding her towards the Entrance Hall. "You will see him in the morning."

Ginny glanced over her shoulder to catch one last glimpse of Draco, who had jumped at Professor McGonagall's touch and tried to walk ahead of her. The Slytherin Head of House then went about leading Ginny through the secret entrance to the Slytherin dormitories and told her the password to get into the common room. Once inside, he ushered her into her private quarters and left her to her own devices.

Ginny had assumed that the bedroom would be small and plainly adorned, but she should have known better—she was in Slytherin, after all. The room itself was massive, almost the same size of the dorm room that she shared with three other girls in Gryffindor. There was a single queen-sized canopy bed in the middle of the floor, surrounded with rich furniture of mahogany. A leather settee and a pair of matching chairs sat in front of a large stone fireplace and a huge oak desk stood at the other end, littered with quills, inkpots and extra parchment. Obviously, no expense had been spared with decorations.

Dumbledore had left a luggage trunk at the front of the bed. Ginny assumed he had done this while she and Draco had their row in the hall. So she opened the chest and found several pretty frocks inside and some rather old-fashioned but still stylish clothes. Unfortunately, there were no jeans or trousers. In the wizarding world witches had not begun to wear trousers until the early Eighties (until that time they were only allowed to wear trousers on the Quidditch pitch, which was the proper attire for playing the sport).

Ginny took out a pink, frilly-looking nightgown and grimaced. Pink never went well with her hair, but then she was a blonde now so it would do nicely. She set the gown down on the bed and turned around to examine the room, deciding she could unpack later. She figured she should go into the common room to see if Narcissa was there. After all, Ginny did promise to meet up with her and it would be rude of her if she did not go.

Once in the common room, Ginny spied Narcissa sitting on the settee. "Cissa?"

"Gin, you made it!" Narcissa smiled and patted the cushion next to her. Ginny made her way over and took the seat next to the blonde and glanced around. The Slytherin common room wasn't bigger than the Gryffindor one, but it was certainly more ornately decorated. It was rather dark and foreboding and, on top of that, it was fairly empty. A few older boys were sitting over at one of the tables playing chess and a couple of younger girls were lying on the floor playing marbles.

"Everyone's still unpacking," Narcissa said as way of explanation. "They don't start coming out for another twenty minutes or so. My stuff is already set up. I'm quick with a wand."

She gave Ginny a playful wink and the former redhead smiled.

"Je suis inconfortable ici," Ginny said in French before quickly correcting herself. "I am not... com-for-ta-ble here now. Soon, yes."

Narcissa nodded in understanding. "I hear you have your own room," she said, changing the topic. "I have to share mine with Vi, Mary and Beth."

She made a face and stuck out her tongue, causing Ginny to laugh, tittering in a French accent. She would have never imagined Draco's mother to be so funny or so friendly.

"So tell me—" Narcissa reached out to touch Ginny's hand "—what is it like at Beauxbatons?"

Ginny's smile faltered. She had not anticipated questions about the French school.

"It iz très... cold and pretty?" she said, offering the first two French adjectives that sprang to mind.

"Cold?" Narcissa repeated with a frown. "But isn't the South of France rather temperate and warm?"

Ginny nodded, blushing a deep pink. "Oui, tu es corrects. C'est froid cette fois de l'année."

Narcissa pursed her lips together in a frown and Ginny mentally kicked herself again. She wished she could remember to try to speak French with the other students so that they could actually understand her—that and she wished that she could actually speak the silly language.

"Er, it iz cold zis time of zee year."

"Ah." Narcissa nodded, moving in closer and glancing furtively at the older male Slytherins at the back of the room. "Must be nice to see boys, nay?"

"Uh, yes." Ginny swallowed nervously. Where was this leading?

"I think Malfoy has taken a liking to you," Narcissa said with a devilish grin, and Ginny gaped at the blonde.

"Pardonnez-moi?"

How would Narcissa know if Draco liked her?

"Lucius Malfoy," Narcissa said, grabbing Ginny's arm and directing her gaze to the tall, gorgeous bloke with mesmerising grey eyes. He was standing in the corner of the room directly above two other Slytherin boys playing chess. "He's been staring at you since you arrived."

"Moi?"

Ginny swallowed the lump in her throat and felt like laughing and crying at once. Lucius Malfoy was staring at her? She glanced up to meet his intense steel-grey eyes and then quickly lowered her newly made green ones. He _was_ looking at her! Merlin help her!

"Il est très beau," she said shyly, blushing once more. "Very handsome."

"Yes, he is," Narcissa agreed with an emphatic nod, seeming to derive entertainment from Ginny's bashfulness. "I fancied him for a bit but he won't give me the time of day."

Ginny frowned. She had almost forgot that Narcissa would end up marrying Lucius. Why had she forgot this? And why wasn't Narcissa dating Lucius now?

"He doesn't seem to go for younger women, if you know what I mean," the pretty said with a sigh, but she didn't seem forlorn.

Ginny simply nodded, not exactly sure what that meant. But then Narcissa smiled and pushed her shoulders inwards, letting her long pale blonde hair hang down.

"I'm sure you're tired from your journey." Ginny nodded slowly, figuring the Slytherin girl was now bored with her. "We usually play a game of Exploding Snap before bed. Are you up for a few rounds?"

"Mais oui!" Ginny smiled broadly and stood up. Yes, she wasn't being rejected! "I go change now."

Ginny hoped she had made sense for Narcissa merely smiled. Ginny then turned around and headed towards her room when she ran face first into a broad, sweet-swelling chest.

"Good evening, Mademoiselle Belette," a silky voiced purred, and Ginny lifted her chin to meet silver eyes, dark and seductive.

Lucius Malfoy had his strong arms outstretched, holding onto her slender form to give her support. A few strands of long white-blond hair fell into his eyes and she fought the urge to brush them away from his devastatingly handsome face. How could an eighteen-year-old boy look so gorgeous?

"B-bonsoir, Monsieur Malfoy," Ginny stuttered as she took a nervous step back, reluctantly releasing herself from his hold.

"Please, call me Lucius."

He offered her a charming smile as his half-lidded eyes not-so-subtly roamed over her body. Ginny suddenly became very self-conscious and blushed several shades of pink. She knew he was appraising her like merchandise and she should be affronted by his audacity—even slap him for being so bold. But there was something about him Lucius that made his actions seem acceptable and anything but lewd.

"Lucius," she said his name wistfully and internally cursed herself. "I-I go now."

With that, Ginny took off towards her room, blushing profusely as Lucius watched her leave with an amused grin playing on his lips.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Once in his private room, Draco managed to shoo away the old bird McGonagall and take in the décor. It was smaller than he had expected and the colour scheme was vomit-inducing. Honestly, bright gold and maroon? At least there was a fireplace and a window view. He had missed such a panorama view in his own room, which was situated underneath the lake.

Draco glanced down at the foot of his four-poster bed and saw a large storage trunk sitting there. Lifting the lid, he pursed his lips together and made a face as he daintily picked up the dated, cheap clothes. It was then that he wished he knew more about Altering Charms.

After he put away his clothes and tidied up the very Gryffindor-esque room, Draco wandered out into the common area and grimaced. It wasn't that the Gryffindor dormitories were insufficient or inadequate. It was just that they were cheap and garish-looking, devoid of any class. He made his way down the half-set of stairs into the main section of the room, seeing several students walking about, talking and playing games. He found an empty cushioned chair near the fireplace and took a seat.

A few girls predictably stared at him, grinning and blushing as they whispered into one another's ears while stealing glances. This wasn't something he was unaccustomed to in Slytherin; however, having the boys stare at him with open contempt and shoot him mutinous glances _was_ uncommon. No one in his own house openly defied him, but then he wasn't in 'his' house any more, was he? No, he was in Gryffindor now.

While Draco wasn't one to ordinarily feel threatened or uneasy, least of all by students of Hogwarts, he was wary. Seated on the lounge to his left were four somewhat familiar characters. The slightly shorter boy with the floppy fringe and the rounded spectacles was undoubtedly Harry Potter's father. The other three criminals surrounding him were his mates, the 'Marauders'.

Draco had heard of the name before from his father. Lucius, while several years older, had attended school with the quartet of self-proclaimed predators. Both his father and his father's friends didn't get along with the younger Gryffindors for obvious reason and Draco, for the life of him, couldn't understand the Marauders' appeal. They labelled themselves as marauders, which was synonymous with plunderers and pirates. They were criminals and yet the Gryffindors loved them for this? Were they all really that stupid?

"Hey, Ungl—Drago," James Potter called, unsure how to pronounce Draco's German last name, causing Draco to scowl.

"Potter," he growled.

He didn't want Potter to address him by his first name, especially a name so closely related to his actual one. But he didn't really want to be called Unglaub either. He would rather the boy sod off and not talk to him at all.

"How do you know my name?" James asked, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. "I haven't introduced myself yet."

The other three Marauders looked up from over top of the settee. They had not yet risen from their places on the lounge but they still looked ready to pounce at a moment's notice if the older exchange student dared to threaten their mate.

"Your name is embroidered on the lapel of your robes," Draco stated dryly, pointing to the Marauder's attire.

James looked down at his robes and frowned. He _did_ have his name written below the Gryffindor crest.

"How does a German know a word like embroidered?" He sneered. "You speak good English."

"I speak English _well_," Draco corrected with a roll of his eyes. "I am educated, so of course I would be fluent in several languages. I try not to limit myself, unlike others."

He glanced over at younger boy and sneered. James shook his head with a scowl.

"Not only do you _look_ like Malfoy but you _act_ like him, too. Arrogant prat."

Draco's eyes narrowed and he gripped the armrests of his chair in seething anger. He refused to let this younger punk draw him into a fight. He didn't need to earn a detention on his first day. He was eighteen, for Merlin's sake. What was this kid, fifteen? He wouldn't stoop to his level. He was above this sort of thing now.

"Shouldn't you be torturing some first-years right now?" Draco asked, effective dismissing the younger boy with a wave of his hand. "I have no time for children."

James cursed under his breath and walked back over to his mates. They talked amongst themselves in whispers, occasionally casting side-long glances at Draco. He chose to ignore them and picked up a paper to read.

"The Ministry predicts a recession for Muggle London," Draco read aloud and dropped the paper onto his lap.

He rested his head against the back of the chair and let out an irate sigh. He had almost forgot that he was twenty years in the past. There was no point in him reading the paper unless he'd had the foresight to bring a sports' almanac back with him. Then he could have done some really lucrative betting and this trip would have only been half a waste of his time.

Eyes still closed, Draco silently cursed to himself that he hadn't kept better track of sports' scores of the past. It was during this moment of distraction that someone was able to successfully encroach upon his space without his notice.

"Hey, Drago, think fast!" a voice called out, and Draco opened his eyes and swiftly withdrew his wand.

On instinct he threw a nonverbal Petrificus Totalus spell in the direction of the person who had shouted his name. It turned out to be his disowned second cousin, Sirius Black, who now lay frozen on his back, staring up at the ceiling with his wand clutched tightly in his hand. The rest of the Marauders bounded to their feet and stood over their mate with wands drawn. Draco, however, was still gripping his weapon and glared down at them menacingly with cold silver eyes, giving them pause to retaliate.

"You might want to reconsider trying to hex a seventh-year from Durmstrang," he threatened as the other three fifth-years stared up at him with wide-eyes and slightly petrified.

Draco shook his head and muttered, "Idioten," before making his way back to his room.

As he went, everyone stood back and out of his way. It was much like witnessing the Red Sea parting. He smirked. The night was a success: he had managed to alienate himself from other students in his adopted house, scare the crap out of everyone else in the room and humiliate one of the Marauders. Perhaps he could stomach living in this dump for a little while longer.

* * *

**Author's notes: **I promise that this story will not be riddled with French and German. Draco can speak perfect German so there is no need to see many phrases here, except when he's insulting Gryffindors. Ginny, on the other hand, will still always speak broken English (much like Fleur); however, you will soon discover that there is someone whom she can speak perfect French to without worry. *smirks*

You might have noted that I had Ginny ask Narcissa to call her Gin instead of Ginny. The French do not usually nickname someone with a 'y' on the end. How Ginny knew this? I don't know. Anyway, I'm not going to translate the French. You can just Google them all. ;P


	4. Rumours, Hexes and Pigs

Rumours, Hexes and Something About a Pig

**.**

**.**

Ginny and Draco had weathered the beginning of the term as best as they could in their respective houses. While most students in Gryffindor stayed out of Draco's way, the Marauders still shot him glares from time to time, but their idle threats were just that, idle, and only served to amuse the pale blond.

Ginny had fared much better. She had made friends with Narcissa, which had resulted in other sixth-years being more cordial towards her. She wasn't exactly best friends with the tall blonde, but Narcissa was kind and helpful and more than willing to welcome her into Slytherin. The boys, on the other hand, were less than helpful as they often stared at Ginny and winked suggestively, making her feel rather uncomfortable.

After a few weeks of classes and Dumbledore still not discovering what exact kind of Time-Turner they had, Draco and Ginny had been forced to settle in and adapt. Both had become restless after a while, not having real friends to hang out with, and decided to try out for their respective Quidditch teams. Draco had reluctantly joined up after being properly hassled by both Dumbledore and McGonagall. They claimed he was too brooding and melancholic, which prevented him from making friends.

Draco had agreed to attend try-outs—if only to get the professors off his back. He did concede that it would be nice to get some exercise and release his frustrations out on the Quidditch field. However, when he made it onto the pitch he was disgruntled to discover that James Potter was the captain. The Gryffindors must have really been hurting for competent players if a fifth-year was in charge. Even if Draco were to believe all the hype about James being this amazing player (like father, like son), a Seeker could only carry a team so far. What they were really lacking were Chasers and Beaters.

James, and especially his mate, Sirius Black, didn't want Draco in the team at first. But after seeing him fly they had changed their minds. James decided that the haughty Durmstrang student was the best thing for the team. Draco was made Chaser. While the Gryffindor team might have disliked the blond, they had to admit he was a great player and an excellent flyer. He even managed to help them win their first game against Ravenclaw.

After a few games, even Draco had to begrudgingly admit that James was actually good—better than his son, in fact. James was also somewhat of a dirty player, which Draco would have normally respected in a person if he hadn't been Harry Potter's father _and_ a Gryffindor. Draco had a feeling if their team actually shaped up and worked together, they could win the cup this year.

Not that Draco cared about Gryffindor or winning a stupid trophy. He only wanted to improve his skill in the sport. So when they finally had their game against Slytherin, Draco was convinced that he—they—could win. He knew his father loved Quidditch and was a good player in his youth, but Draco was confident in his own abilities. This was Draco's only way to prove himself to his father, even if Lucius would never know it.

When he got onto the pitch, Draco was shocked to see the Weasley girl. She was dressed in full Quidditch gear with her fake blonde hair. She was also a Chaser, which annoyed Draco immensely for some strange reason. He hadn't seen the girl in a week—not that he kept tabs on her. They had spoken to one another in the library a few times and in their meetings with Dumbledore. It wasn't like they needed to keep in contact. They weren't friends or even remotely close to tolerating one another, but he thought she would have at least had the common decency to inform him that she was on the Slytherin Quidditch team with his father.

Glares properly exchange, both teams mounted their brooms and took to the air. The game was long and hard, physically draining the ex-Seeker. It had been a while since Draco had played so competitively, and it was his first time as a Chaser. Draco quickly discovered that being a Chaser was a lot more taxing than being a Seeker, who only had to keep an eye out for a Snitch. You had to work at being a Chaser. You had to be fast and evasive. You had to score.

He had to begrudgingly admit, after a month of admitting horrible truths about Gryffindors' supposed 'skills', that the Weasley girl was rather good. She wasn't as gifted a flyer as he, but she was quick and nimble. With her on the opposing team and his father as Seeker and Captain, Slytherin was Gryffindor's only real competitive threat.

Suddenly two figures zoomed past Draco, almost knocking him off his broom. His father was chasing after James, who had most likely caught sight of the Snitch. Draco took off and followed them both, his eyesight as keen as any Seeker's.

He spotted the Snitch and saw that James's was about to clasp around the gold-winged device. Draco then watched as his father reached down his leg and, with a sudden movement that registered as a blur of colour, withdrew his wand and hexed the Gryffindor. It was so fast that no one could even tell, except those high in the air playing—those with keen Seeker eyes.

James dropped the Snitch and Lucius swooped down underneath, catching it with ease. He raised his hand triumphantly in the air and the announcer called it. The stands erupted in cheers and applause, and even a few boos.

Slytherin had won.

Draco gritted his teeth and anger and turned to see Ginny hovering beside him. She was looking up at the scene with a scowl on her face to match his. She then glanced over at Draco, who promptly looked away. Had she seen what he saw?

The players landed their brooms and began shaking hands, quietly cursing one another. As the stadium empties out and the teams made their way towards the changing rooms, James, Sirius, Draco, Ginny and Lucius all lingered behind. The hovered aimlessly on their brooms, an unspoken tension mounting between them.

"You really are a ponce, Malfoy," James muttered, directing a murderous glare Lucius's way.

Sirius hovered beside his friend and scowled at the long-haired blond. They both had to have known that Lucius was more powerful than they were, as well as bigger. There wasn't much they could do against the older Slytherin, except voice their complaints. Anything more would have resulted in a thorough thrashing, with them on the receiving end.

"Il avait la Snitch!" Ginny said to Lucius, yet she was pointing at James.

She had obviously seen his father cheat, and it was apparent that she was worked up since she hadn't thought to speak French so that the others could understand her. Draco watched as she glared contemptuously at his father, who sat smirking on his broom with the Snitch still in hand.

"Tu as triché!"

"Stuff it, Frenchie!" James said, hitting the ground and taking off towards the changing rooms.

Draco couldn't help but laugh. Ginny had actually been defending the prat and he hadn't a clue. James couldn't take his anger out on Lucius so he was taking it out on a girl. What a winner.

"Pardonné-_moi_?" Ginny lowered her broom to the wet grass and took off after the bespectacled Gryffindor.

"You heard me, Frenchie!" James spat, turning around and taking several threatening steps in her direction. "Keep your pointy nose out of affairs you do not comprehend, like Quidditch for one."

Ginny snarled. "Tu est un cochon!"

Draco snorted. This was priceless. Ginny was calling her boyfriend's father a pig. He couldn't pay for this kind of entertainment.

"French cow!" James bellowed, withdrawing his wand.

Ginny drew hers in the same instant, launching a well-executed Bat-Bogey Hex at the younger Gryffindor. Luckily her Quidditch attire consisted of trousers with a holster for her wand. Of course current rules prohibited carrying wands on the field for reasons that Lucius had just earlier demonstrated. Such was the Seventies.

"I'll get you for that!" James cried, wiping at his nose as he shot down the bogey bats with colourful zaps.

Draco was still sitting on his broom, laughing heartily at James being attacked by his own bogeys, as well as enjoying the view of two Gryffindors insulting one another. It seemed fitting somehow, the Weasley girl duelling her boyfriend's father.

When James aimed his wand at Ginny, Draco's laughter stopped. Before Ginny was able to disarm James, the younger boy went flying up into the air and sailing across the field until he landed on the ground not some several hundred yards away.

"No, you won't."

Lucius holstered his wand and landed gracefully to his feet. He let go of the Snitch, sending it back to its case, and picked up his broom before joining a shocked Ginny.

Draco was equally dumbfounded. His father had just saved the Weasley girl from being hexed and sent that annoying James Potter flying across the field onto his arse. What in Merlin's name just happened?

"Are you well, Geneviève?" Lucius asked with such genuine concern that Draco felt the need to dig the wax out of his ears.

Ginny nodded slowly, holding her wand close to her chest, and stared up at Lucius with what looked like awe.

"Good." Lucius offered Ginny a charming smile before taking her hand and placing it on his arm. "Shall I escort you to the ladies' changing room?"

"Oui." Ginny blushed a deep pink. "Merci, Lucius."

Draco felt his stomach drop as he watched Ginny gaze into his father's eyes. His father! He lowered his broom and himself to the ground and dismounted. Watching the two Slytherins walk off hand-in-arm, Draco pursed his lips tightly together and frowned.

What in Merlin's name just happened?

**.**

**.**

**.**

The big buzz going around Slytherin the following week was that Lucius Malfoy was infatuated with the exchange student from Beauxbatons. Ginny had no idea how this rumour began circulating since she and Lucius were the only Slytherins on the Quidditch pitch during the Hexing Incident.

It was true that the two had been seen hanging out more, but it was nothing scandalous. They had never kissed or embraced. He would occasionally hold her hand, usually to place it on his arm so that he could escort her to wherever it was that they were going. They always remained in the public's eye: practising Quidditch or hanging out in the Slytherin common room, playing Exploding Snap or chess.

They had class together and were often partnered, which led to them spending a lot of time together in the library. Lucius had also inadvertently aided her with her French. When they were semi-alone he would often speak to her in her supposed native tongue, forcing her to pick up on his vocabulary and phrasing, which made her learn the language that much easier and faster.

The two were not officially dating, though. Lucius hadn't asked her out or asked to spend time alone with her. He was the perfect gentleman, and it annoyed her.

Yes, she shouldn't have been entertaining thoughts about a man who, in her time, was more than twice her age, married and was Draco's father. But she couldn't help it. Lucius was charming and devastatingly handsome.

"Squib, you want to pick up the trash near the Gryffindor Tower? That hallway is beginning to smell almost as bad as you."

Ginny's ears pricked up at the sound of the familiar voice. Her brow furrowed as she rounded the corner, intent on chewing Draco out for being such a bigoted bastard, when she stopped frozen in her tracks. She had guessed the wrong Malfoy.

Lucius Malfoy and his gang of seventh-years were tormenting the caretaker, Argus Filch. While Ginny was not a fan of the smarmy codger, she couldn't condone the Slytherins' behaviour towards the older man nor witness Filch being humiliated because he was a Squib. He was still a human being, no matter that he couldn't perform magic.

"Stop it!" she ordered firmly, and Lucius turned around with a mild look of shock registering on his normally unreadable face.

"Je m'excuse, ma chère," he said with a formal bow, much like how Draco had on the train over a month ago.

Ginny rolled her eyes at Lucius's overt display of gallantry and charming formality. The boy got away with far too much by being suave and handsome, but he would not get off the hook with her so easily. Molly Weasley didn't raise a fool.

"Do not apologise to _me_, Lucius," she said, impatiently tapping her foot before deliberately pointing at the caretaker. "Apologise to Mr Filch."

Lucius straightened his back and nodded, offering Ginny a rueful smile before turning to Filch and muttering a forced apology. He managed to sound polite and formal, although anyone could tell that it was insincere. The caretaker, in turn, looked up at them both with a scowl plastered on his unattractive face. It then became painfully obvious to Ginny that Argus Filch, even in his youth, had never been considered an attractive man.

"Ma chère, you must excuse me," Lucius said with a sly smile. He turned and took her hand, chastely kissing her middle two knuckles. "I have to run and meet Slughorn to discuss extra credit."

Ginny had discovered quite quickly that Lucius was skilled in almost every subject at school save Potions. It was one of the reasons why he occasionally allowed Severus Snape into his inner circle—to keep the dour boy around for his tutoring services.

It was a somewhat amusing face since as far as Ginny could recall, Lucius's son, Draco, was quite adept at the subject. However, this may have been because the Snape of their time had allowed him to coast by. She doubt this as she'd been in the same classes with Draco for the past month and a half. Slughorn and almost every other professor had done nothing but heap praise on Draco for his aptitude. They may not have liked his morose personality but they certainly appreciated his academic mind.

"Geneviève?" Lucius repeated her name, shaking her from her reverie.

Why had she been thinking about Draco?

"Yes?"

"I asked you if you wanted to join me at Hogsmeade this weekend, as my date."

He smiled charmingly, his grey eyes softening in the light that poured in through the windows, and Ginny suddenly felt like melting.

"But of course, Lucius."

"Excellent." He took her hand once more and turned her palm outward this time, trailing kisses up to her wrist. "See you at dinner."

Ginny blushed several shades of pink before he let go of her hand and headed towards Slughorn's office. He turned to look over his shoulder, offering her a wink, and Ginny grinned. Once Lucius was out of sight, Ginny hugged her books to her chest and sighed, smiling dreamily as butterflies did laps inside her stomach.

Lucius Malfoy had just asked her out.

Ginny was so lost in the thought of dating the insanely handsome and dashing Lucius Malfoy that she had forgot—again—that she was still technically dating Harry Potter, and that Draco Malfoy would figuratively (and possibly literally) give birth to a cow if he were to ever find out.

"Are you well?"

Ginny shook her head and blinked. Had someone just asked her a question? She was becoming rather flighty as of late, zoning out almost every time she was in Lucius's presence. She blamed the Glamour Charm that Dumbledore gave her: the blonde hair had to be addling her brain somehow. It was that or Lucius was half-Veelan.

"You okay?"

Ginny was sure she heard a voice this time. She turned to see a pale, skinny boy dressed all in black with equally black and greasy hair and a hooked nose. He was staring at her with a rather confused and irritated look.

"Pardonné-moi?"

"I asked if you're okay, Geneviève," the boy repeated, pronouncing her name awkwardly. His expression became sour. He looked rather put out to be asking her such a desultory question.

"Oh, Snape." She smiled softly, finally recognising the fifth-year. "Yes, I am good."

He nodded and his lips twisted into a frown. She was obviously blocking his path but hadn't yet noticed. Instead, she stared at Severus Snape, trying to take in the younger image of a man she had once hated, and who (in her time) was, posthumously, one of the most respected men in the entire wizarding world.

She tiled her head to examine him. He wasn't that bad-looking, she had to admit. He just needed to bathe regularly, maybe comb his hair from time to time, wear less black and try to go out in the sun more often.

"May I pass?" Severus asked impatiently, and Ginny nodded.

"Oui, je m'excuse."

She stepped to the side to allow Severus to pass. The sallow-looking fifteen-year-old gave her one last sour look before scurrying by. Ginny, however, couldn't help but grin. She had been conversing with a young Snape! This time period was absolutely wild.

What was even wilder was the fact that her thoughts kept returning to Lucius—Lucius Malfoy's long, silky white-blond hair and piercing grey eyes.

She was doomed.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Draco managed to spend most of his spare time in his room, taking a much-needed nap. He had been taking to the Quidditch pitch every morning before classes and then again after school. He wasn't practising with the team but rather working on getting himself back into the game.

He hadn't played Quidditch at all in his sixth and seventh years, thanks to the war and other obligations. Draco, however, felt invigorated to play again. He really needed to get back into form and learn more about being a proper Chaser, which required him getting into much better shape. He could convince himself he was doing this because he wanted to improve on himself, but the real reason was much more personal than that: he wanted to beat his father.

Today, after Transfiguration class, Draco had taken off to his room and collapsed on his bed. Knackered, he quickly fell asleep and was visited by dreams about winning Quidditch games and impressing his father. It was from this deep and satisfying slumber that he was roused awake by a sudden knock at his door.

Draco blinked his eyes open and sat up on the bed, still fully clothed and lying on top of the covers. Was someone waking him for lunch? No. No one cared to tell him when anything was going on. James didn't even remind him about practice—not that he needed reminding.

So it was with sleepy confusion that Draco ambled his way over to his door and opened it without asking who was so impatiently seeking his attention. Draco glanced down and predictably scowled. James Potter was annoyingly rapping his knuckles against the door. It figured.

"Potter," Draco growled sleepily. "What do you want?"

He was trying to get his brain to focus on what he was saying so that the younger boy could understand. Draco had dimly thought not to bother and just speak English so that James only heard German, but then the bothersome Gryffindor would have probably only asked him to repeat himself, and Draco didn't feel like conversing more than he had to.

"You have to stop practising on the field every single morning, German," James said rigidly.

German had become Draco's nickname amongst the Marauders—well, only Sirius and James called him that. Remus addressed him as Drago and Peter tended to just make a strangled yelping sound and then ran from sight. Draco didn't mind being called German. It was better than being called Drago or Unglaub. He'd rather they not call upon him at all.

Draco secretly wondered how these Marauders ever managed to hatch an original idea inside their thick skulls. German? Seriously, that's all that they could come up with?

"What do you mean?" Draco asked with a frown. He wasn't allowed to practise Quidditch now?

"The other houses have been complaining that one person—you—has been taking up all the time on the Quidditch pitch; in the morning before class and after school." James sighed and scratched the back of his head, giving Draco a somewhat sheepish look. "Listen, German, I don't mind that you're putting in all that extra effort, but it's just that if the others complain, then our actual practice time as a team could be cut."

"Fine," Draco said, striding past the younger Gryffindor into the common room. "Whatever."

Draco was too tired to argue and maybe he did need to take a break. He could always practise flying elsewhere. It wasn't like he really needed the intense training anymore. He had got back into shape rather quickly and had adequately caught onto the dynamics of being a Chaser. Besides, he'd be heading back to his time any day now. He could settle for just practising with the team.

"German, I'm just telling you the rules. You don't need to be such a ponce about it."

Draco turned around to glare at the Gryffindor. How had he been a ponce? He said 'fine' not 'piss off, tosser!'—although he probably should have.

"Potter, just leave him be," an authoritative voice warned.

Draco glanced over his shoulder to see a very pretty redhead with bright emerald eyes glaring at the bespectacled James with disdain.

"Defending another misfit, Evans?" James asked, looking sour, but Lily Evans merely rolled her eyes and dismissed James with a wave of her hand.

"Oh sod off, you useless toerag."

"Whatever," he growled, exiting the common room.

Draco watched James stomp out the portrait door with a smirk. Lily then turned to look at Draco, crossing her arms over her chest. There was a slightly amused expression played across her face, which made him frown.

"Sorry about that," she apologised. "I realise that Gryffindor hasn't exactly given you a warm welcome since you arrived."

Draco shrugged indifferently. Was she trying to be nice? If so, why wait a month and a half to reach out to him? Women, in general, were complicated; Gryffindor women, as a principle, were stupid.

"Ironically enough, he was trying to be nice to you," Lily added with a smile, and Draco sniffed haughtily.

"I don't need you to defend me."

"No, you boys rarely do."

It wasn't like he was trying to defend his masculinity in front of others. They were entirely alone in the common room. Draco just disliked the girl and Gryffindors in general.

"Du dreckiges Schlammblut," he muttered under his breath, about to head back to his room.

He had figured she couldn't understand German, so when she looked up at him with calculating eyes and laughed, Draco thought that he had assumed right. But when he looked closer he noticed that Lily's light-hearted laugh was belied by the cold look in her deep green eyes. Suddenly her laughter became mocking and slightly evil.

"You know, you remind me of a really good friend of mine," she said with a smile. "He says and does rude things, just like you." Her smile quickly faded to a scowl. "The thing is, _Drago_, you are _not_ a good friend of mine, so you had better watch what you say around me. Got it?"

The threat in her voice and even in her eyes was unmistakeable. Draco nodded, slightly wary of what the redhead would do to him. He was consciously aware of how talented Lily Evans was at Potions (hearing Slughorn rave on and on about her every bloody day) and in other areas, having witnessed her bravado for the past month. Frankly, Lily Evans frightened him a little. She had a restrained temper, unlike the Weasley girl, which made her unpredictable and therefore dangerous.

After a moment, Draco finally turned around and headed back to his room, shaking his head as he went. Lily, on the other hand, was smiling. She turned to exit out the portrait of the Fat Lady and bounded down the stairs, making her way towards the dungeons.

"Hey, Sev!" she called out, watching as her best mate made the a risky flight towards the Entrance Hall. "You all right? You look like you just saw You-Know-Who."

"Yeah, Lily, I'm fine," Severus said, slowing down and allowing the pretty redhead to catch up. "I just ran into one of the exchange students..." He paused, searching for the right words. "They're both really weird."

"Tell me about it!" Lily snorted. "They're rude, too." She then glanced down at her watch and shook her head, pushing Severus forward. "C'mon, Sev! We're going to be late for Potions."

"But I just came up from the dungeons!"

"Well, now you're going to go back down!"

_Women_.

**.**

**.**

**.**

The next morning Draco had gone straight down to breakfast instead of practising Quidditch. He had managed to avoid the Marauders and the scary Lily Evans and sat as far away from the others as he could, which was virtually impossible.

He glanced up from his meal of eggs and toast to see his father walk in with a pretty-looking girl on his arm. Draco's mouth dropped open and he did a double-take when he realised the pretty blonde was Ginny Weasley.

He had forgot she was a blonde now, but it wasn't just the hair and eye colour that made her look different. Now the girl wore dresses that didn't look like hand-me-downs and even some light make-up. She wasn't dolled-up in the slightest, but she had a sort of natural beauty to her—the girl next door look. He guessed that he hadn't really noticed it before. He certainly hadn't been paying attention to her change in attire and appearance these past couple of weeks since he had become so engrossed in Quidditch and his studies—that and she's a Weasley, for Merlin's sake!

What really had Draco concerned, besides his realisation that he found Ginny to be mildly attractive, was the fact that she looked to be hanging off his father. Seriously, what chance did she think she had with him? His father had better taste than that. Besides, from what his mother had told him, this was the year that his mother and father had begun to date.

Draco went back to his breakfast and shook his head, determined to ignore the little Weasley and his father. He had to go see Dumbledore today to make sure that the old coot was coming closer to realising a solution for his problem (and Ginny's problem too, he supposed).

It was with this thought dwelling on his mind when two sixth-years beside him started whispering. They were discussing the morning gossip. Draco had to stop himself from rolling his eyes in disgust at the trivial female pastime. He had no idea that Hogwarts of the past was just as much of a rumour mill as Hogwarts of the present. So when the news finally reached his ear that Lucius Malfoy was dating the new exchange student, Geneviève, Draco almost choked on his eggs.

His father was dating Ginny Weasley? In what universe?

Draco put down his fork and tried not to empty the contents of his stomach onto the plate in front of him. He looked over at the Slytherin table and glared. How dare she date his father? The manipulative tramp! Didn't she know that his father was supposed to date his mother? He certainly knew this. It was the testament to his birth! Besides, wasn't Ginny supposed to be in love with Harry Potter? What a degenerate slut! He would have to confront her about this immediately.

Watching, waiting and biding his time, Draco saw his opportunity when Ginny excused herself from the table and made her way out the doors of the Great Hall. He accosted her at once.

"Weasley, what do you think you're doing?" Draco grabbed Ginny's arm and dragged her behind the door—as this now seemed to be his customary manner of greeting.

"Malfoy, get your hands off me!" she hissed, freeing her arm from his tenacious grip. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you dating my father," Draco quipped snidely, digging his nails into his palms.

"Oh," she replied with wide, dawning eyes.

"Yes, _oh_."

"We're not dating, really," Ginny weakly explained, nervously rubbing her hands together. "He just asked me to go with him to Hogsmeade this weekend."

Draco's eyes narrowed. "And you said _yes_?"

"Why wouldn't I say yes?" Ginny was beginning to get immensely annoyed with the blond.

"Oh I don't know, maybe because he's my _father_!"

"Well, what do you want me to do?"

"Say _no_ for starters—" Draco began listing with his fingers "—keep away from him, stop being a tart—"

Draco heard the slap before he felt it, and then his face had begun to sting. His eyes widened in shock as he raised a hand to his now red-marked cheek. "Why you little bitc—"

Ginny's wand was withdrawn and she had hit him with some kind of hex he had never seen before. It was as though a firecracker had been set off in front of his face. Her annoying brothers, the twins, had most likely invented the stupid spell.

"Weasley—" Draco withdrew his wand and growled "—you are going to pay for that!"

Before he could utter a spell, a powerful Impediment Curse knocked Draco to the ground.

"You will leave Mademoiselle Belette alone, Unglaub," Lucius said with a snarl, pointing his wand at Draco. "I have tolerated your presence in this school because you have been cordial and unassuming. But you crossed the line today by trying to attack Geneviève." He glared down at the blond. "You will apologise to her."

Draco jumped to his feet. "I will not!" He was thoroughly humiliated and slightly afraid of what Lucius would do to him, but he would never apologise or cow to this younger version of his father.

"Then I am afraid that you have made yourself a powerful enemy, Unglaub," Lucius said with unmistakeable venom in his voice, and Draco's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"So be it, _Malfoy_."

Lucius nodded curtly and warily sheathed his wand. He took Ginny's hand and guided her down towards the Slytherin dormitories. Ginny glanced over her shoulder at Draco and her eyes widened with worry and fright. Draco watched her go and then started to wipe the dust off his trousers, glaring at anyone who dared to look at him. Unfortunately Severus Snape dared, staring at Draco as if he were a right nutter.

"You know, the French girl isn't worth it," the younger Slytherin informed Draco rather condescendingly. "Lucius Malfoy gets what Lucius Malfoy wants."

Severus sneered at the blond and shook his head, finding it rather silly that these two older boys were fighting over a girl. They might not have said anything, but it only took someone with half a brain and a pair of working eyes to realise that almost any fight between two boys was over a girl—a troublesome girl.

Draco's eyes became mercury slits as he sized up the soon-to-be Potions master. "_Langlock_!" he yelled, causing the younger Slytherin's tongue to glue to the roof of his mouth. "Fuck off, you greasy-haired git!"

With that, Draco stormed off, leaving a speechless Severus Snape behind. The Marauders, however, found it very entertaining—well, at least James and Sirius did, laughing heartily as Severus fumbled about for his wand and tried to reverse spell nonverbally. Remus and Peter, on the other hand, remained silent.

Suddenly Lily came running over to help out her best mate, telling the laughing Gryffindors to bugger off. The Marauders did just that and followed the thoroughly pissed off German bloke, whose robes were billowing quite dramatically as he made his way towards the Gryffindor Tower.

"He's not so bad," James said almost reluctantly, still laughing at the spell Draco had performed on the self-righteous Severus Snape.

"Yeah," Sirius agreed slowly. "He stood up to Malfoy _and_ set Snape on his arse."

James laughed again. "I think he has potential."

"You think?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We just need to have him warm up to our way of thinking." James shrugged and looked back at Remus for support. "He is a rather good Quidditch player and quite smart, too. An older bloke like him on our side might come in handy someday."

The other three Marauders nodded in unison, thinking about it. Sirius, however, remained unconvinced. He didn't like the German all that much since he had hit him with that nonverbal spell on the first day of school, but he had to admit that having a powerful wizard like that on their side would have its uses.

"I say we watch him a bit more time," Sirius said. "And if he's up to snuff, we test him."

"Sounds good to me," James said, and then jogged on ahead to catch up with the exchange student. "Oi, German! Er, Drago!"

Draco stopped and turned around, furrowing his brown in angry confusion. What did these clowns want now?

"Wanna come to Hogsmeade with us this weekend?" James asked in an abnormally friendly tone, as the other three boys caught up and gave Draco an encouraging nod.

"Sure, I guess," Draco said after a moment's pause and then turned back around to keep on walking.

He could go to Hogsmeade with these idiots and spy on his father and Ginny. It would cause less suspicion if he showed up with the witless quartet than if he were to go alone.

"Great. See you at practice tonight," James said half-heartedly at the blond's back, quickly sussing out that ingratiating himself with the German would be quite the challenge.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Back at the entrance to the Great Hall, Lily had managed to undo Draco's spell. Snape coughed and began to test out his vocal chords by cursing up a storm. Lily could only laugh, having never heard her friend swear so much.

"Sev, how do you always manage to get yourself into situations like these?"

"Luck," he said dryly, holstering his wand as she helped him to his feet.

Lily laughed even harder and playfully punched the scowling boy in the arm, eliciting the closest thing to a smile she would ever get from him. As they made to part ways to their respective dorms, she reached up and put a hand on his shoulder. He glanced up expectantly.

"Hey, Sev, did you want to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?"

"Sure." He smiled at first and then immediately grimaced. "Let's just hope that we can manage to stay clear of the Marauders, flying hexes and bipolar exchange students with itchy wand fingers."

Lily laughed again. "Amen to that."

* * *

**Author's notes:** Obviously I took some creative license by allowing Quidditch players to carry wands on the field until the mid-late Seventies. I just needed an excuse for a fight, to show feisty!Ginny. You may have also noticed that I inserted some Lily/Snape love. Deal with it! ^_~

Please forgive my broken English or awkward phrasing as literal translation from English to French (and vice versa) is next to impossible in most cases. And though I said I wouldn't translate the French for you, I might as well translate the German phrase: _du dreckiges Schlammblut_ means you filthy/dirty Mudblood.

**Additional note (on translations):** In the French version of Harry Potter, different words/phrases are used for English terms. For example, the Snitch is actually referred to as _le Vif d'or_. Unfortunately, I am not angling for accuracy or flow in this story when it comes to French, so I apologise in advance to any French persons reading this story. Both Ginny's English and French read awkward since she is _literally_ translating from one to the next. That is why Ginny would still call the Snitch the 'Snitch' as opposed to 'le Vif d'or'. I do hope you understand.


	5. We All Have Issues

We All Have Issues

(Yours Are Just More Scarring Than Most)

**.**

**.**

The trip to Hogsmeade was magical, and not in the tongue-in-cheek kind of way. For Ginny, it was the epitome of a perfect first date. She had never experienced anything like it, nor had she ever been with anyone like Lucius. He was the picture of charm and class, the perfect gentleman.

Lucius showed up to her room with a bouquet of white roses, which he said complimented her complexion. Ginny blushed and fumbled for the words to thank him. He then conjured an exquisite crystal vase and used his wand to fill it with water and placed the roses inside. Walking over to her wardrobe, he grabbed her fur-lined cloak and held it out for her. Ginny slipped into the coat. feeling his fingertips touch her bare neck, and shivered. Her skin instantly broke out in goosebumps.

Ginny knew it wasn't right for her to be on a date with Lucius. She could tell by the looks the other girls gave her when she walked out of the school arm-in-arm with him. Narcissa had hid her feelings well, offering Ginny a small smile, but Ginny knew that the Slytherin girl was heartbroken. Narcissa didn't take her anger and feelings of betrayal out on Ginny because the taller blonde had dignity and class. Ginny, however, seemed to be lacking these two qualities as of late, for she found that she couldn't help but be selfish. She wanted—no, she needed—this magical moment, this perfect date.

Tomorrow, Ginny would break it off with Lucius. She would swallow her feelings and accept her fate. She wasn't meant to be in this time. She had come back to save Fred, but instead she had found Lucius. It wasn't right. None of it was. It was time for Ginny to grow up. But that was all for tomorrow. Today, she would be Geneviève Belette from Beauxbatons. Today, she would happily live the lie.

It was a relatively cool mid-October weekend, so Lucius took it upon himself to stand close to Ginny while they walked. He would rub her arms and hands, ensuring that she was warm, and Ginny couldn't stop from blushing the entire walk there.

They stopped to Honeydukes, where Lucius bought her a copious amount of sweets and chocolates. After gorging themselves with the sinful delectables, they went window-shopping and frolicked in the seldom-used playground just on the outskirts of town. She giggled with delight as he pushed her on the swings and raced her to the slides. It was hard to imagine that this loveable, carefree boy would become a cold, heartless Death Eater—a man who would later give her a cursed diary that would forever change her life.

They finally made their way to The Three Broomsticks. Their cheeks were rosy with the cold and physical exertion. Lucius took her cloak and directed her towards a cosy booth in the corner. He ordered her a glass of elf wine and tipped the waiter, who gave them both a knowing wink. Ginny, being of age, took a sip and made a face, sticking her red tongue out in disgust.

Lucius laughed and took a hearty drink from his glass of scotch. "It's an acquired taste," he said, setting down his glass. "I realise the swill here is not as good as it is in the south of France. Wine must be baby's milk to you."

Ginny smiled and took another sip, shaking her head. "Nev-air I drink such large e-mount."

"Pas de problem, ma chère," he said and gave her another one of his inviting smiles as he signalled the waiter. "Could I have a large hot cocoa with extra whipped cream for the lovely mademoiselle here?"

The waiter nodded and went back to retrieve her drink. Ginny pushed the red wine aside and took the cocoa that the waiter brought back to her, sipping happily. She thanked Lucius, who merely shook his head and waved his hand dismissively.

"Anything for my Geneviève."

His grey eyes sparkled in the lamplight and Ginny's heart fluttered. She was falling for Lucius Malfoy. She just couldn't help it.

"C'mon, Drago, let's have a drink."

Ginny turned to see James and Draco enter the pub. The younger Gryffindor was patting the unamused blond on the back, ushering him towards an empty table at the back. The rest of the Marauders were in tow, looking as mischievous as ever.

Ginny smiled. Apparently Draco _could_ make friends, and with Gryffindors to boot. She was happy to see him out and about. She was beginning to think she was the only one having a fun time in this time period.

"Now he has sunk even lower," Lucius said with disgust, causing Ginny to turn back.

"Pardonné-moi?"

"Unglaub." Lucius pointed to Draco and the Marauders with his tumbler of scotch. "Now he is making friends with fifth-years—_those_ fifth-years."

Ginny frowned. She knew house rivalries had existed since Hogwarts was first built. She too had been guilty of such prejudices, but she couldn't see why Draco should be condemned for hanging out with his own housemates.

"But zay arr... frenz of same owse, non? What iz wrong wis zat?"

"I'm not saying that housemates can't be friends. I'm saying _he_ should know better," Lucius said, glaring over at the blond before he took another swig from his drink.

"Drago?" She glanced back at Draco and then back at Lucius. He was levelling her with a menacing look and she instantly recoiled.

"I'm sorry, Geneviève," Lucius apologised, seeing her reaction. His steel-grey eyes softened. "I should explain."

Ginny frowned.

"_Unglaub_ is an alias," Lucius said, letting out an undignified grunt as he drained the contents of his glass.

Ginny's eyes widened. Did he know about her and Draco—that they weren't who they pretended to be? She swallowed nervously.

"Zorry?"

"_Unglaub_ is German for _without faith_," Lucius clarified, signalling the waiter to bring him another tumbler of scotch. "Do you know the origin of the Malfoy name, Geneviève?" He didn't wait for her answer. "It's archaic French for _bad faith_."

Ginny pursed her lips in a frown, unsure of what he was driving at exactly. Lucius looked past her to stare at Draco, unwilling to finish his explanation until he had another drink. The waiter brought him his scotch and the long-haired blond took a sip this time, hissing through his teeth.

"My father attended school at Durmstrang," Lucius said, leaning his back against the booth. "Before he succumbed to Dragon Pox he confessed to my mother that he had been unfaithful." He looked down at the tumbler in his hand, swirling the contents of the golden liquor in the glass. "He had a mistress, a childhood friend who lived in the village just outside Durmstrang. She was with child a year before I was born."

Ginny closed her mouth and followed Lucius's contemptuous gaze, which was directed squarely at Draco.

"It's obvious to anyone with eyesight that that German there is the spitting image of me. He's my father's bastard child!"

Lucius brought the tumbler of scotch to his lips, draining the contents in one large gulp. When he set the empty glass back onto the table, Ginny reached over and put her small hand on his. He looked up, bewildered.

"Let us go now, Lucius," she said, smiling softly. "I do not want you to be sad anymore."

Lucius lowered his eyes and shook his head, letting out a short laugh. He then glanced back up at her with all traces of his former melancholy gone. Instead, a roguish grin danced on his lips.

"Geneviève, how could I be sad when I am with you?"

How could he indeed.

**.**

**.**

**.**

The Marauders accosted Draco as soon as the bell tolled. They seemed intent on making friends with him. The idea of being mates with these dunderheads made Draco shudder with disgust. However, now that he had made an enemy of his father, he figured having these blokes around wouldn't be entirely without use. Five against one _were_ odds in his favour.

Draco begrudgingly followed them as they took off about the town, going into every shop, pilfering sweets and whatnots. He hung outside for the most part, keeping an eye out for Ginny and his father. He wasn't sure why he was doing this. It wasn't like he could approach them if he saw them. His father now considered him an adversary and Ginny would never rise to defend him.

Draco guessed that he just needed to know what was going on, to find out if they were really dating. He figured his father just wanted to have a go with a 'French' girl. He obviously couldn't tell that Ginny was some common witch with no wealth or class. The dodgy, old headmaster was quite clever in giving her a French accent, distracting anyone from her English one—an automatic indicator of education and social standing. Ginny had no clue that Lucius just wanted the rough and tumble with a beautiful girl.

Draco inwardly winced. Had he just admitted that he found the Weasley girl attractive? He had never really seen it before. He only saw someone who was a traitor to her blood, poor and pathetically infatuated with Harry Potter. What more was there for him to see? Sure, she was feisty, athletic and somewhat talented, but did his father see these things? No. He saw an exotic doll locked inside a glass case—a case he desperately wanted to open.

Draco let out a disgruntled sigh and shook his head. At that moment he glanced up to see his mother and her girlfriends enter The Three Broomsticks. A minute later, his father and Ginny walked in, too. Just then, James and crew came out of the shop and jabbed Draco in the ribs.

"What do you want to do now, Drago?" James asked, and Draco tried his best to offer a friendly smile.

"Shall we get a drink?"

Sirius uncharacteristically beamed at Draco and patted him on the back, which caused the blond to stumble forward.

"Sounds good, German. First round's on you," Sirius said with a wink as they took off ahead of him.

Draco muttered a few obscenities under his breath before finally catching up with them. The moment they walked into the pub he saw his father and Ginny sitting at a booth. His mother and her friends were on the other side of the room. He could see his mother stealing glances at his father, frowning almost imperceptibly at him.

The Marauders pushed Draco towards a table near where Narcissa sat. They all took their seats and began ordering drinks. When Draco finally got his, he glanced over to where Lucius sat and noticed that his father was glaring at him. After what appeared to be a serious discussion between the two love-birds, Ginny put her hand on Lucius's and Draco felt the urge to stand up. Instead, he remained seated and watched as the two got up to leave. He turned back to his own table and scowled.

Where were they going?

"You okay, Drago?" Remus asked quietly, and Draco glared at the younger boy before nodding.

"Let's order more drinks!"

Draco turned around to see his mother impatiently waving her hand in the air to signal the waiter. It wasn't like his mother to act this way.

"I feel like getting right smashed," she properly announced, already sounding tipsy, and Draco stared at her agape.

No, this most definitely was not like his mother. She was obviously upset because his father was dating the new 'exchange student'. This simply would not do. His mother and father had to be together: his life depended on it.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Lucius escorted Ginny back to her room, helping her off with her cloak. She invited him to stay for tea and he accepted. She then conjured a tea set and poured him a cup. They sat in front of the fireplace and talked. Well, he talked; she listened.

They were both sitting on the settee when Lucius decided to lay his head on Ginny's lap. She stroked his long, soft hair and he smiled up at her. His cheeks were still rosy from the scotch.

"Tell me a story, Geneviève," he asked sweetly and somewhat sleepily. "En français."

She tried to think of a story that a French girl would know but nothing came to mind. She searched the recesses of her brain, trying to recall any poem or story that she had ever memorised.

_The Lady of Shalott_ entered her conscious thoughts and she began to recite the poem, stanza by stanza. She told of how the Lady of Shalott was a cursed woman who was forced to constantly weave a magic web that prevented her from looking directly out at the world. Instead, she had to look in a mirror, which reflected the people who came to and from Camelot.

One day the bold Sir Lancelot rode by on his horse and the Lady could not help but look upon him directly without the mirror. Alas, the mirror then broke and the curse took hold of her. She left her island castle on a boat engraved with her name and then sent herself down the river towards Camelot. But before she could reach the palace, she died.

Amongst the knights and women who found her was Sir Lancelot, who complimented her beauty and prayed to God to lend her grace, the Lady of Shalott.

"That was beautiful," Lucius said when she finished, bringing his fingers to her cheek.

Ginny blushed and continued to play with his hair, massaging his scalp. Lucius closed his eyes and smiled, almost purring at her touch. She then rubbed his temples, pushing his long blond hair away from his face, fanning it onto her lap. Her ministrations caused him to let out a contented sigh, turning his head so that she could attend to his neck. Her fingers began to lower past the collar of his shirt, dipping down to caress his collarbone. His pewter-coloured eyes suddenly opened and he grabbed her wrist, looking up at her with unrestrained lust.

He pulled her down towards him, with one hand held at back of her neck. Her lips met his, and from the angle she was at her mouth was upside down to his. She had assumed that the kiss would be awkward. She assumed wrong.

It was hot and passionate, filled with unbridled emotion. She could not help but moan into his mouth as she felt his tongue slip inside, dancing along hers. She had never felt this kind of passion with any boy before, including Harry.

Ginny suddenly drew back. She couldn't be kissing Lucius. She was dating Harry and Lucius was supposed to be dating Narcissa. This was wrong.

Lucius sat up, reaching out to take her hand. "Are you okay, Geneviève?"

"Zis iz all so fast," Ginny admitted, biting down on her tender bottom lip.

Lucius lifted her chin and she tried to smile for him. Instead, she took in a great gasping gulp of air. Green eyes met grey. His half-lidded eyes made her weak with desire. Ginny opened her mouth to speak, to protest their relationship, when his lips came crashing down on hers once more and she gave in with a moan.

His lips were so warm and soft, entreating her to deepen the kiss. Large hands roamed her waist and pulled her closer, resting her legs on his lap. After a moment he released her lips. Breathing heavily, he tilted her head back and stole kisses down her neck, nipping at her sensitive flesh with his teeth.

She reluctantly pulled back and he gazed down at her, his eyes smouldering with lust. His mouth was open and, if she wasn't mistaken, he was panting.

"I-I cannot."

Her palms were pressed flat against his broad chest, keeping him at arm's length. She expected him to argue and say that she was ready, that she was just scared, but he didn't.

"Je m'excuse, Geneviève," Lucius apologised huskily, licking at his lips, and Ginny found herself melting all over again.

No. She had to maintain her resolve. Draco would kill her if he found out that she had been snogging his father. Wait, why was she thinking about Draco Malfoy right now?

Lucius untangled himself from Ginny and stood up. Straightened his clothes, he retrieved his cloak from the desk chair. Ginny wondered if he was mad at her, but when he leaned down and kissed her fully but quickly on the lips, affectionately rubbing his thumb along her jaw, she knew he wasn't. He looked down into her eyes more adoringly than he had before and she felt her heart swell to twice its size.

After she showed him out, Ginny leaned against the door, knocking her head against the cool wooden surface. Tomorrow she would have to tell Lucius that it was over. She couldn't play with his life or Draco's. Lucius was meant to be with Narcissa, not with her. And while she found herself caring deeply for the handsome Slytherin, she could not let her selfish wants and needs come ahead of what was meant to be. Her original intent for using the Time-Turner had been to right a wrong of the past and make her family happy again.

What she was doing now wasn't right. It didn't make anyone happy but herself. It was an impossible dream; one that she would have to forget entirely.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Draco finished his drink and decided that the trip was a bust. All he had discovered was that his father appeared to be infatuated with the Weasley girl and his mother was heartbroken. He would have to talk to 'Geneviève' about this in the morning.

The Marauders followed him outside, playfully pushing each other around. Draco walked ahead with his hands in his pockets. He decided to ignore their antics and think of something else, like how he was going convince Ginny to stop seeing his father—well, how to convince her without using force or verbal threats. He supposed that he could approach her from a _friendlier_ angle. In order to do this, though, he'd have to stop calling her Weasley all the time.

"Hey, Drago, what's Durmstrang like?" Sirius asked suddenly, and Draco turned around to face his disowned cousin.

"It's cold," Draco said curtly. He didn't know where Durmstrang was exactly. Sweden or Norway, possibly Germany.

"Well, that's descriptive," James said with a laugh, and Sirius joined in.

"We should head back to the school," Remus warned, cautiously eyeing the Whomping Willow.

It was then Draco noticed they had somehow come upon the Shrieking Shack. Well, he was in lead, so he must have led them there. Behind them were group of girls stumbling around from the other side of the gate, heading towards the tree. It was his mother, Narcissa, and her housemates Violet Harrington, Elisabeth Travis and Mary Parkinson. They all looked inebriated.

"Cissa's smashed," Sirius said, shaking his head in disgust.

Draco took a step towards the girls and Sirius reached out with a hand to stop him. Draco turned to glare at the dark-haired boy, who only scowled right back.

"Don't bother, German. You don't want to cross paths with my cousin and her mates when she's drunk." He followed Narcissa's movements with dark eyes. "I'm not exactly a favourite in her books, but I don't like seeing her like this. The best course of action for everyone involved is to just let her walk it off."

Draco's scowl lightened considerably. Sirius did not look disgusted because he hated Narcissa; he felt sorry for her.

"I just want to see if she's okay," Draco said, lightly shrugging of Sirius's hand.

Sirius frowned pensively but nodded.

"Let's go," Remus suggested more forcefully to the other Marauders, and they all turned around to head back to the castle.

Sirius looked back and watched as Draco walked over to Narcissa.

"Shouldn't we have maybe helped?" James asked, and Sirius shook his head.

"No, me being there would have only made matters worse." Sirius let out a protracted sigh. "Cissa and I used to be close when we were younger. She used to spoil Regulus like he was her baby brother, but ever since I was disowned..." He paused. "Let's just say that Blacks don't forgive or forget."

James nodded in understanding and patted his best mate on the back. "You think German'll survive your cousin?"

Sirius snorted. "If he does, he'll have proven himself a brave Gryffindor, indeed."

Draco glanced over his shoulder to watch the Marauders leave and then steeled his resolve to go speak with his mother. He could tell from her stance and how she waved her arms about in the air that she was drunk. He had never seen his mother intoxicated. She was always the picture of calm assuredness and decorum.

Some might have considered Narcissa haughty and cold, but she had a warm side. She doted on Draco and his father, loved them both and even coddled Draco to the point of annoyance. This girl before him, however, was acting like a teenager. This was a side to his mother that Draco had never seen before. Of course, he knew that people changed and matured, but this version of his mother bothered the hell out of him.

"Well, if it isn't the German Gryffindor," Narcissa announced with a bottle in hand, toasting the approaching blond.

Where she had acquired bottled alcohol, he did not know. She looked wasted.

"Hello, Narcissa," he said, finding it awkward and uncomfortable to address his mother by her given name.

"_Narcissa_, is it?" She frowned deeply, raising a blonde eyebrow in disdain. "You're quite brave—or is it foolish?—to be so bold as to address me by my given name without permission."

"I beg your forgiveness, Miss Black," Draco entreated with a formal bow, and Narcissa's frown morphed into a sneer.

"Sod off, Durmstrang boy," she slurred, taking another sip from the bottle.

Draco's mouth dropped open. Did his mother just curse at him? Never in his life had he ever heard her use the term 'sod'.

The other three girls tittered, obviously drunk themselves.

"Yeah, Gryffindor. Get lost!" Violet shouted, snickering loudly.

Draco watched in horror as his mother began to stumble back towards the Whomping Willow.

"Mo—Miss Black, please. Get away from the tree," he half-begged, half-ordered.

"I will do what I bloody well want, ya tosser!" Narcissa snorted rather unladylike and took another swig, stumbling back even closer to the threatening branches.

His mother finally backed her way into the path of the Whomping Willow and Draco instantly withdrew his wand and tried to immobilise the massive swinging branches. Either the tree was too powerful or Draco needed to work on his pronunciation, for the spell missed. Draco then ran with lightning speed to where his mother stood, about to be impaled.

Narcissa turned around and let out a short screech that was cut off by Draco tackling her at the waist. They both rolled across the ground, just barely missing the swinging arm of the branch. Draco rested his forearms on either side of Narcissa's head and looked down at her. Her blue eyes were wide and watery, staring up at him with awe and rapture.

"You saved me," she whispered, bringing a hand up to his cheek to caress it.

"U-uh," Draco stuttered, unable to reply or move.

His mother was staring up at him with a look that he had seen many times, especially from Pansy Parkinson. He only prayed to Merlin that it was the alcohol talking, but when she raised herself up and wrapped her arms around his neck to kiss him, Draco's worst fears were realised.

Quickly untangling himself from his mother, Draco jumped up and looked down at Narcissa in shock. He stuttered an apology and promptly took off in the direction of the castle, sprinting with the speed of a Muggle Olympic runner.

His mother had kissed him—on the lips!

Draco swore to every god he could think of. He cursed his father, the Sorting Hat, the Time-Turner and especially Ginny Weasley!

When he got back to his time he would be in need of some serious psychological counselling. Right now he would have to settle for a scalding hot shower and possibly some manly crying. All he could do now was crawl into his bed and never emerge again until Dumbledore came to tell him that he could finally return home and leave this madness.

* * *

**Author's notes:** Poor Draco. Poor Draco for oh-so-many reasons. I could have made this chapter a lot more awkward than it was but I decided to save that for the following chapters. You're welcome. ^_~

_The Lady of Shalott_ is a poem written by Lord Alfred Tennyson, who wrote several pieces about Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere.


	6. Not Ready to Make Nice

Not Ready to Make Nice

or

(I'd Slap You if My Arm Wasn't in This Sling!)

**.**

**.**

"Miss Weasley, Mr Malfoy—how are you both this fine evening?"

Professor Dumbledore greeted Ginny and Draco with his customary formality. Peering over the rim his half-moon spectacles, he carefully regarded the two wayward time travellers sitting in front of him.

Ginny smiled wearily at the headmaster, having had many meetings with the wizard over the past two-and-a-half months. They hadn't got any closer to figuring out how to get back to her and Draco's time and Ginny was worried that this meeting would yield the same result as the previous ones. In other words, nothing.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ginny watched as Draco shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He looked sullen and petulant, which was not much different from how he normally looked. His body, on the other hand, had changed quite a bit. While he was still slender and tall, his leanness was less apparent as the sinew on his arms, legs and chest had become much more pronounced.

Ginny had not observed these subtle changes on the Quidditch pitch; however, forced to sit beside Draco in confined quarters had made it impossible for her to not notice his brazenly displayed brawn. He was beginning to look increasingly like his father every day. Although Lucius had more of a leonine look to him, Draco was considerably less aquiline than before and far more lithesome.

"I'm peachy," Draco drawled, and Ginny jumped in her seat. She hadn't expected him to answer the headmaster.

"Y-yes. I'm doing well, too," she added, and both Draco and Dumbledore turned to look at her askance.

"That's good to hear," Dumbledore said, leaning back in his seat with a wink.

Draco, however, didn't seem to appreciate the exchange. He crossed his arms over his now-broad chest and exhaled noisily.

"Enough with the forced exchange of pleasantries!" he snapped, looking directly at the headmaster. "I am not fine or well or _peachy_." Draco glanced momentarily in Ginny's direction before turning his attention back to Dumbledore. "Please tell me you have made some progress."

Dumbledore raised a bushy white eyebrow and smiled. It was a sly sort of smile, very deceptive.

"A man who likes to get to the crux of the matter—" he tented his fingers "—I do appreciate that quality in a person. But young Draco, when you get to be as old as I am, you come to realise that part of the joy in discovery is found in the journey itself. So why don't you humour an old man and let me reveal what is to be told in my own way."

Ginny was slightly taken aback by the foul mood that seemed to perambulate about the room. She warily glanced over at Draco to see him glowering. After a moment's pause, the fair-haired boy finally relented and muttered, "Fine," under his breath.

"Excellent," Dumbledore said, his countenance suddenly brightened.

Ginny swallowed nervously and brushed back her long hair. The tension between the older and younger wizard had lessened, but Ginny wished that the headmaster would just get on with it so that she could leave the stuffy confines of the office and go outside for a nice, relaxing broom ride. There was so much pent-up hostility in the room—and in the school since she and Draco had arrived. It was unnatural. They were not supposed to be here. Ginny was worried that Draco would eventually snap—or she would.

"I was able to research this particular Time-Turner and discovered it is an experimental one from your time," Dumbledore informed them, cutting of Draco's inevitable snarky retort with a raise of his withered hand. "While the witch or wizard who worked on this may be alive during this time period, we cannot hope to seek out his or her aid on this matter."

Draco and Ginny's faces immediately fell.

It would obviously interrupt the space-time continuum if they sought outside aid and thus inadvertently change the future course of events and history as they knew it (Ginny had learnt of this concept in another moo-vee about a space canoe—or was it a toboggan?). You simply could not mess with time.

"However—" Dumbledore raised an index finger "—he or she apparently studied the work of Burgstrom as the dial system is somewhat parallel to Alfred Burgstrom's Location Clocks and Pocket Watches."

Draco huffed in angry confusion while Ginny merely shrugged, unsure of what the headmaster was angling at. How were they supposed to know what any of this meant?

"He made clocks that you could bewitch to show where certain people were at any point in time. He also had a few timepieces and other experiments that could predict where the tracked person would show up next, before he or she even left or arrived. Rather ingenious, really. Most of his creations were passed down in the Burgstrom family."

"The family clock," Ginny muttered, shaking her head in disbelief.

"What is that, Miss Weasley?" Dumbledore asked, leaning forward to listen intently.

"My family has a clock that shows where every member of our house is—if we are at work, school or in mortal peril."

"That might have been one of his creations," Dumbledore said with a nod. "He was famous for his Detectors; however, his experiments were not limited to the present. Many of his theories devices dealt with the mechanics of prediction and future time travel. In fact, he is rather well-known in the wizarding academic circle for his theories on chaos, prediction and time."

"What does any of this have to do with the Time-Turner?" Draco asked, seemingly not very keen on the clock conversation.

"Well, Mr Malfoy," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes, "it tells us that your Time-Turner uses Burgstrom's Theory and does, in fact, go forward in time—into the future."

"Oh well, that is a relief!"

Ginny sat up in her chair and clasped her hands together in glee. Dumbledore nodded in agreement, his smile widening at Ginny's exuberance. Draco, however, did not look nearly as excited.

"But have you figured out how to send us back to the future?" Draco asked.

It was all fine and good to discover that the device could go into the future, but could the headmaster actually figure out a way to send them there?

"I need to locate and study Burgstrom's notes as well as all research done on Time-Turners and time travelling in general," Dumbledore said. "It will take another month, at the very least, to discover the right spell and to do some testing."

"Testing?" Ginny brow knitted in a deep line while Draco's eyes darted about the room, looking somewhat apprehensive.

"Not on you, my dear," Dumbledore reassured her with a good-natured wink, and Ginny's frown vanished.

"Then how?" Draco asked, sceptical. He wasn't as trusting and optimistic as Ginny.

"There are ways to test without having to use a human subject," Dumbledore stated ominously, staring Draco down as if he knew something—something that he had read in the blond's mind.

Draco swallowed hard and looked away, failing to meet the headmaster's gaze, while Ginny cleared her throat and tried to laugh. She brought her hands together for a weak clap and smiled.

"All right then," she said with feigned enthusiasm. "Only another month left to go. Brilliant."

**.**

**.**

**.**

Determined to relieve his stress, Draco went to the Quidditch pitch to fly. He took off into the air, feeling the breeze hit his face and letting his hair whip against his neck as he tried to empty his mind of all thoughts.

The meeting with Dumbledore had unnerved him. He could swear that the dodgy old wizard had used Legilimency on him. There was the briefest sensation of something tugging at the back of his mind. Had the headmaster read his thoughts at the mention of 'testing'?

Draco had spent his entire sixth year testing out the Vanishing Cabinet—to the point where he had almost gone mental. He had done things he would have liked to forget. Unfortunately, the meeting today brought it all back to the forefront.

After landing, Draco glanced up to see two figures flying on their brooms near the stadium. His eyes narrowed on the pair of blonds, who were racing around the pitch and having a gay old time. One of them was his father and the other sure as hell wasn't his mother. Apparently Lucius was teaching Ginny how to fly. He was demonstrating barrel rolls, corkscrews, diving and other techniques that Lucius had taught Draco when he was young.

Draco wasn't sure if he was jealous that his father was instructing the Weasley girl or that he was envious that Lucius could unabashedly put his hands all over the petite girl. No, not that. Definitely not that. He was simply jealous that Ginny had his father's attention while he did not. He wasn't envious of Lucius. It wasn't like Draco wanted to spend time with the She-Weasel. No, no. It was Single-Child Syndrome. Yes, that had to be it.

As much as he wanted to convince himself of this, he couldn't explain why he found himself charging out onto the field where the two were flying. He wasn't exactly sure what he was going to say or do just that he was going to say or do _something_ going to say or do something. He figured the words, coupled with the appropriate actions, would strike him when the time was right.

"Teaching a weasel how to fly, eh, Malfoy?" Draco yelled, glaring directly at Lucius.

Okay, so maybe he had chosen the wrong words.

Draco could see the subtle, almost imperceptible change in his father's countenance. He had tried to look inscrutable and calm, but Draco knew his father well. Lucius was anything but placid right now. He was positively livid.

_You just picked a fight with your father_, Draco's mind warned him, but he didn't care.

He mounted his broom and took off into the sky, buzzing silently and effortlessly past Ginny, who looked confused, angry and a tad worried. He settled a few feet away from them and just hovered, staring at his father and almost willing him to fight. He knew Lucius would be armed and would play dirty. He counted on these two facts. Draco wanted to fight; he needed to.

"This is a dangerous game you are playing, Unglaub."

"Call me Drago, Malfoy," Draco interrupted with a growl. He simply hated his German surname. He would rather his father call him by a name similar to his given one. "You spit out my last name with far too much disdain."

"Why, should I be saying it with reverence?" Lucius rode his broom until he was hovering beside his current arch nemesis.

"Isn't that how the Weasel addresses you?" Draco remarked flippantly.

"Watch what you call her," Lucius warned with an evil glint in his mercury-coloured eyes.

"_Belette_ is French for _weasel_," Draco said, as if this was a matter-of-fact, which only further infuriated Lucius. "Would you call a rose by any other name?"

"_Draco_!" Ginny hissed, which caused him to turn and scowl in her direction. "What are you doing?"

Draco scoffed at her, and his eyes darkening a steel-grey. "I could ask you the same, _Ginny_."

Ginny's eyes widened. She had forgot to call Draco by his German name. Lucius was looking sidelong at her with a suspicious expression on his face.

"What is this?" Lucius asked slowly, looking back and forth from Ginny to Draco.

"N-nothing," she replied quickly, averting his gaze.

Draco watched the ex-Gryffindor turn her head and blush, unable to look his father in the eye. He grinned rather evilly at this, enjoying the fact that everything wasn't so perfect in their little glasshouse—content that he had thrown a stone at it, even if it was only a pebble.

"Ungl—Drago, I suggest we have a talk," Lucius stated more so than suggested, noting the way that the German bloke looked at Ginny and not liking it one bit.

"Fine."

Both teenagers took off on their brooms, ascending to the clouds.

"You fancy her!" Lucius accused once he and Draco finally had flown out of earshot.

"What?" Draco was flabbergasted.

"You heard me!"

"Yes," Draco admitted with a shade of his head, "and I'm still trying to figure out how you came to such a preposterous conclusion."

Lucius tightly gripped the neck of his broom, seeming as though he were trying his hardest not to whip out his wand and hex this doppelgänger right in front of him.

"Do not take that tone with me!" Lucius threatened, and Draco rolled his eyes at how much this seventeen-year-old in front of him truly did remind him of his father. "You cannot fool me, _Unglaub_."

"I can't, can I?" Draco asked mockingly, leaning forward on his broom. "Drat. That's a real shame now, isn't it?"

Lucius bristled at Draco's tone. "I know who you are," he said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. "Do not think for one second that you have a right to any title lest 'bastard'. I will not have you usurp my inheritance or position as the only heir."

Draco's mouth dropped open. "What?" He hadn't the foggiest idea about what his father was whinging on about.

"Go ahead, Drago, act dumb." Lucius flipped his long hair over his shoulder in a lordly manner. "You are rather good at it."

All guesses at what Lucius was talking about earlier slipped Draco's mind entirely—thrown right out the window. He knew that this broad and domineering boy in front of him was his father, but he was also an arrogant git who didn't know when to keep his big gob shut.

"Whatever, Malfoy!" Draco spat, wanting to knock the haughty expression off Lucius's face with his fist.

Lucius then turned his broom around so that he had to look back over his shoulder at Draco, shooting him an ugly sneer. "Don't think that you stand a chance with Geneviève either," he warned with an overt display of testosterone.

It was then that Draco felt something inside him snap.

"What makes you think that you have a chance with her, you randy, old—"

Just as suddenly as the heat and energy had flooded inside him, the light in his eyes had gone out. Unconscious, Draco Malfoy fell off his broom, plummeting to the ground at dangerous speeds.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Draco's eyes languidly fluttered open, trying to adjust to the harsh white lights that assailed his greyed vision. He smacked his lips distastefully and tried to make a sound but found that his vocal chords refused to cooperate. Instead, he turned his head to the right and saw the remnants of his practice broom left in a heap on a sterilised table beside him. He supposed that he would have to ask Dumbledore for a new one.

He turned to look up at the ceiling, noting the familiar patterns in the moulding, and he let his eyes roam over the expanse of the vaguely familiar room. The bed he was lying on was dreadfully hard and uncomfortable, so he rolled over onto his left side. He felt a sudden and sharp pain shoot up his ribs and he involuntarily let out a gasp of pain. It felt like every single one of his bones had been broken. Now he most assuredly knew where he was: the infirmary.

He winced in pain and glanced over at the other bed, spotting two big almond-shaped eyes staring directly at him. He swallowed hard and then scowled.

"Weasley," he croaked, noting the petite blonde nestled in the bed next to his.

She looked rather worse for the wear but her eyes had not lost their spark, their soulfulness. (Oh, bloody hell. What was wrong with him? He was waxing prose about the She-Weasel's eyes).

"What happened?" he asked, clearing his throat as he tried to sit up. It was an impossible task, for he fell back down.

"You fell," Ginny answered bluntly, also trying to sit up.

They were both bandaged to their waists, obviously having broken numerous bones. He supposed they both had a healthy dose of Skele-Gro in and on them. It was painful and itchy as hell.

"Yes, I gathered as much from the splintered broom and the fact that I am lying prostrate on a hospital bed," Draco drawled, and Ginny rolled her eyes. "How did you manage to land in the infirmary with me?"

The annoyed expression on her face quickly vanished and was replaced with a sheepish half-grin. "I, uh, tried to break your fall."

His eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. "You what?"

If she had broken his fall, she would have been a pancake.

"I didn't have my wand on me," Ginny explained, glancing down at her left arm that was in a sling, "so I just kind of rushed at you with my broom and tried to slow you down. But you were going too fast and you were too heavy—"

"I am not!" Draco admonished, aghast that she would suggest he was some sort of corpulent slob. "I'll have you know that I am the proper stone for my height."

He sniffed disapprovingly and Ginny took in a deep breath and sighed.

"Well, falling at the rate you were, you weighed as much as a small elephant to me, Malfoy."

Draco palmed his face and let out a laboured sigh. "So I suppose I am indebted to you now." He lowered his hand and adopted a terribly defeated and forlorn expression.

"It must be horrific," Ginny said dryly, and Draco dramatically clutched at his chest.

"Weasley, if you could only understand my pain."

"I think I can." She stretched out her back with a pained expression on her face and then her eyes widened in realisation. "Oh, you meant—berk!"

The corners of Draco's lips twitched into an almost imperceptible grin. "I suppose I should say thank you," he said, knowing Ginny had probably saved his life.

"I suppose you should," she agreed, letting the ghost of a smile grace her lips.

Draco tilted his head and gazed at her, his grey eyes momentarily softening in the sunlight that filtered through the window. Normally, being indebted to a Weasley would have brought shame and dishonour to his noble name but, for some reason, it didn't feel as globally devastating as he thought it would be.

He rolled over on his back and winced, feeling the pain shoot up his sides. As grateful as he may have been for the Ginny saving his life, he wasn't exactly ready to make friends and play nice. The thank-you would have to wait—or never come at all.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Draco and Ginny were released from the infirmary after three days of intensive care. In that time, both Lucius and Narcissa had come to visit their wounded Slytherin princess. No one had come to visit Draco.

Cissa, however, had gone over to talk to Draco a few times when she visited with Ginny, sometimes saying by Draco's bedside until visiting hours were over. Lucius, on the other hand, only came to visit Ginny, pretending that 'the German' didn't even exist. And Ginny tried to pretend that Lucius wasn't the cause for Draco's fall.

Fortunately (or unfortunately), Ginny wasn't stupid. She knew something had happened between the two boys when they took off without her. Draco had most likely goaded Lucius into a fight and Lucius's first instinct was to hex. While Ginny knew Draco wasn't faultless, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Draco may have been a bully in the past, but he had changed. Whether it was just this year or since his sixth year, Draco was not the same boy he had once been. He had grown up, matured a little.

Ginny had only begun to notice his subtle metamorphosis these past few months because of they were forced to spend time with one another and were free from their respective friends' biases. Draco was still an arrogant, domineering prat, and she wasn't exactly itching at the opportunity to be his best mate, but Ginny didn't think he deserved to be hexed by Lucius, no matter what he had said.

When she saw Draco fall off his broom, she had reacted instinctively. She hadn't had her wand on her, which was stupid, so she used what she did have: her broom, her agility, her speed and her body. She had almost properly caught him, but the boy had put on too much muscle mass over the past few months—that and the fact that while unconscious he was dead weight.

It had been impossible for her to right him on her broom, so they both ended up rocketing to the ground, breaking ribs and numerous other bones upon impact. Luckily Lucius had transported them both to the infirmary and they were immediately taken care of.

Ginny wished the two obstinate Malfoys could just get over their stupid rivalry. It made perfect sense why they hated one another: they were essentially the same person. They were both so alike in looks and mannerisms that it wasn't difficult to understand why they were constantly at each other's throats. Perhaps if Draco had been sorted into Slytherin, they would have got along. However, if he hadn't been sorted into Gryffindor, she would have never noticed the subtle (and positive) changes in Draco's attitude and demeanour.

Sure, Draco was still a bigoted git, but he appeared to have become a somewhat more tolerant git—and he also seemed to have developed a sense of humour. Another odd fact Ginny had come across was that Draco appeared to have quite the way with the ladies. Since they were both released from the hospital, all of the girls from every house had begun to swoon over him, especially Narcissa.

Ginny had thought it amusing at first, although she did feel bad for Draco (having his mother crush on him), but this amusement quickly gave way to annoyance. Did _all_ the girls really need to fawn over him? He fell off his broom. Since when was that sexy?

Maybe it was more so because Draco was now Lucius Malfoy's chief rival and that made him a hero to all other houses. Even some of the Slytherin girls fancied (see the Narcissa reference above). He had become a sort of rebel, a renegade.

All the female attention he received, however, had made Ginny want to vomit. It wasn't that she was jealous. No, no. She was just a liberal witch and she found the idea of witches wantonly throwing themselves at a wizard's feet to be disgusting and demeaning. Yes, that was it. It was a matter of gender politics.

It was with these lingering and pestering thoughts of Draco Malfoy plaguing her mind that Ginny became distracted with what she was doing and, consequentially, bumped into a ladder in the middle of the hallway.

"Worch it!" a crabby voice called out.

Ginny dropped her textbooks and rubbed at her sore forehead. "Je m'excuse," she muttered, bending down to pick up her books.

The owner of the crabby voice reached out with gnarled and calloused hands and began to help her retrieve her fallen items.

"Yeh should worch where yer goin'," he said with a little less disdain in his voice this time.

Ginny glanced up to see Argus Filch helping her collect her books off the floor. Her eyes widened momentarily at the caretaker's uncommon act of kindness and she offered him another apology.

"It's okay."

He waved his hand, looking somewhat bashful. They both stood up and Ginny glanced at the ladder.

"You are play-sing pic-tour frems on zee wall?" she asked with her awkward French accent, remembering to try to speak properly so that Filch could understand her.

"Yeah, the Ministers for Magic pictures," he said, pointing up at the numerous other frames that adorned the wall.

Ginny remembered that Filch used to clean these picture frames all the time, almost religiously, and hung them on the wall just outside the entrance to the Gryffindor Tower. Ginny had wondered why he took such care with the pictures. She knew that he was a competent caretaker and made sure that everything was kept in order, but he seemed to hold a sort of reverence for the stupid frames.

"Why you care so much for zeez?"

She motioned to the picture frames with a slender arm and Filch took in a deep breath, pausing to collect his thoughts before answering.

"I always wanted to be the Minister for Magic," he said, almost smiling wistfully.

"But you are a—"

"Squib! I know!" he barked, the dreamy look wiped from his face.

"J-je m'excuse." Ginny waved her hands frantically in front of her face. "Je n'ai pas voulu vous offenser."

Filch stared at her somewhat blankly and he still seemed to be smarting at her earlier insinuation. Of course a Squib could never become the Minister for Magic, but she hadn't meant to insult him like that. She wasn't exactly making the situation tolerable by apologising to him in French, either. She had to at least make an effort to appear genuine.

"Excuse me. I did not want to offend you," she corrected herself in her best English, and his features momentarily softened, his shoulders relaxed.

"It's awright. I know ya didn't mean ter offend meh," he acknowledged gruffly.

Ginny's look of trepidation and worry quickly morphed into relief. She would have never been able to get away with a simple apology in her time. Either Filch of the past was less cantankerous than his future self or being a pretty, blonde French girl allowed Ginny to get away with a lot. She figured it was a combination of both. Merlin knew how much Lucius could get away with by being handsome.

"For 'ow many years 'ave you wanted to be zee Minister for Magic?" Ginny asked, taking this as her cue to good-naturedly inquire into his obsession with the position (and the pictures).

The caretaker looked at her askance, still not ready to trust her, but then Ginny offered him another attractive smile. He relented almost immediately.

"E'er since I worz a kid," he said, the lines in his brow fading to make him appear almost youthful.

"Oh," Ginny muttered quietly, looking down at her hands.

It was rather sad to hear that a man who could not perform magic wanted to be the head of everything magical. She had never known Filch to want to aspire to anything more than what he was: a grumpy, old bastard. Of course, she had never made it a point to get to know him. He was a figure of mockery, someone who tried to make students' lives hell. The man before her now, however, was very human and very fragile, with real hopes and ambition.

What had made him become the man she knew in the future? She supposed it was life in general. It made sense, in a way. All of his fears, doubts and insecurities were wrapped up in the stigma of being a Squib. Over the years, being reduced to names and never achieving his goals, had turned him into a bitter and resentful old man. It would make anyone a scowling tosspot.

"I know just about e'ery single spell thar is," he added with pride in his voice, causing Ginny to glance up.

He then proceeded to list spells, demonstrating the wandwork with his finger. He was actually correct from what she could tell. Also, when he spoke Latin, gone was his horrible accent and slur of speech. Amazingly, he could enunciate each syllable perfectly. He also started to name spells Ginny had never even heard of, along with the history that originated them. He was beginning to sound a lot like Hermione.

Ginny had begun to think of ways to extricate herself from the increasingly educational (and boring) situation she had inadvertently talked her way into.

"Did yeh know that Petrifying an Acromantula is the only way ta disable it? E'en when Bound or Immobilised, it can still shoot its highly toxic and corrosive venom or e'en its web."

Ginny raised her brow, trying her best to look interested.

"It's all for naught, really," Filch said, after finishing his long magical history lesson. "I will never become anything in the wizarding world. I'm a Squib. I was lucky ta get this job or ta even be alive..." He trailed off and then looked up at her with shrewd and calculating eyes. "Yeh don't understand much of wot I'm say, do yeh?"

Ginny tilted her head and almost spat out that she did, but then she figured Filch was only sharing all of this information with her because he thought she didn't understand English very well. She doubted many could understand his English very well, either. It was almost as bad as Hagrid's).

"Pardonnez-moi?" she asked with a feigned nonplussed expression on her face, and the caretaker smiled a toothy grin.

"Yer awright, young miss." He picked up a frame and began to clean it. "Sorry to 'ave jabbered yer ear off. I can't help wot I am, but we all 'ave dreams ta be more than wot we are."

Suddenly Ginny felt her heart reach out to the old codger and she found herself drawing inspiration from the deepest part of herself.

"Any-sing iz pos-sible," she said, smiling sadly, "if you 'ave zee nerve."

* * *

**Author's notes:** Aww, a Hallmark moment with Filch, including the infamous Twins' reference. I doubt any of you wanted to read that, but I don't care. My story. I write what I want. Watch out for the next chapter in which Snape transforms into wanton sex god. No, not really... *thinks about it* No, I really shouldn't.


	7. Time for Plan A

Time for Plan A

aka

'We're F#%ked!'

**.**

**.**

"Evans, come on! I was just joking."

"Newsflash, Potter—you're not funny."

"Would the both of you just shut it already!"

Draco shot murderous glances at the younger Gryffindors, who had decided to argue in front of his door on an early Saturday morning. Lily went to grab her wand but Draco already had his drawn. The girl was almost always two steps ahead, so he had every right to look and feel as smug as he did in that very moment when her green eyes narrowed on his wand. She lowered her hand in defeat.

"You learn fast," she complimented Draco with a half-grin.

Draco _had_ learnt fast. While Lily Evans was or at least _seemed_ to be a very sweet girl, she was unquestionably ruthless with a twisted sense of humour. She was also undoubtedly cunning and Draco, understandably, was quite wary of her. She was still a Gryffindor and Gryffindors were notoriously rash—curse first and ask questions later. It also didn't help that she was eyeing him rather oddly as of late. In fact, it seemed as though the entire female population had been paying him a lot of attention lately. It was as annoying as it was unnerving.

"He's the only one with the brass balls to put an end to your fighting," a deep voice drawled from behind.

All three turned to see Sirius Black. He was leaning against with wall with his arms folded across his chest and was leaning against the wall. A cocky grin was spread across his handsome face that Draco more than often wanted to wipe off with his fists.

"Thanks for that, German. I'm always amazed when you render Evans speechless." Sirius threw a dashing smirk Lily's way, but she only scowled at the dark-haired boy. "Perhaps our plucky redhead is yet another one of your groupies. You must wonder why she always decides to pick a fight with our lovelorn James here in front of _your_ room."

Draco grimaced and leaned against doorframe. One did have to wonder.

Lily didn't even bother to dignify Sirius with a reply. Instead, she just glared at the Gryffindor, waiting for him to look away first, but apparently Sirius wasn't known for being burdened with an over-abundance of common sense.

It was a battle of wills and Draco knew which one would win. After a moment, Sirius shook his head and looked taken aback. He furrowed his brow and gaped openly at Lily, who was now smirking with triumph after successfully utilising Legilimency on the Marauder.

"Black, I suggest you keep your big gob shut or I might let it slip about your fascination with Animagi."

Both Sirius and James recoiled at her statement while Draco's scowl only deepened. The blond hadn't the foggiest what Evans was referring to but he really didn't care. It amused him to watch the redhead unnerve and intimidate her housemates. This didn't mean he liked the girl, but he could, at times, understand why Snape tolerated the bint. She was smart and feisty. Too bad she was a Mudblood.

Another issue that was 'too bad' was the fact that he was in the same house with the young band of misfits. Draco was getting rather sick of refereeing their heated rows every day. It was obvious James was infatuated with Lily as he picked a fight with her every time he saw her, much like how Draco did with Ginny.

Not that this implied Draco was infatuated with Ginny. No, not at all. It was evident that Lily didn't like James all that much since most of the time she ignored him, unwilling to take his bait. Ginny, however, always argued back with Draco because she was an obstinate, pig-headed witch.

Wait, why was he thinking about the Weasley girl now?

James and Lily had started up their heated row again, stirring Draco from his musings. Remus finally entered the fray to play peace-keeper, but it was to no avail. Sirius simply stood back and laughed. Draco, on the other hand, sighed and closed his door, soundproofing the room with a wave of his wand.

There was no point in getting himself worked up over stupid things like Gryffindors and Weasleys. Dumbledore would solve their Time-Turner problem and get him back to his time. All of this would become a memory—a hellish memory. Unfortunately, Draco had to live in the now and his now consisted of a standing rivalry with his own father.

It had been two weeks since Lucius knocked Draco off his broom. Since then Draco had come to be regarded as a sort of hero amongst the other houses, especially with Gryffindor. The Marauders had inundated him with questions—well, harangued was a more accurate term. They were always asking when Draco was going to exact his revenge.

For the most part Draco ignored them like he ignored everyone. His only concerns were going home and making sure that Ginny Weasley didn't fuck with his life any more than she already had. He had tried, in vain, to corner the girl on several occasions to discuss his father with her. Whenever he got a chance, though, either Lucius or Narcissa would interrupt. Draco dared not approach Ginny with either of his parents there: his father would likely try to hex him and his mother would likely try to kiss him. Both were frightening notions, especially the latter.

Draco had been avoiding his mother since the Whomping Willow incident and his later release from the infirmary. She had been persistent though, tenacious even. After a week and a half of running away from her at every opportunity (thank Merlin they weren't in the same year and forced to be in the same classes), he realised he could no longer keep up the act.

He needed to talk to Ginny and come up with a plan to right what she was currently mucking up: his right to be born. He needed Ginny to get away from his father and for his mother to take Ginny's place. He would have to talk to her today and hope he could make her see reason.

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Weasley—Ginny, we need to talk."

Draco had accosted Ginny just outside the Astronomy Tower. Startled by the sound of Draco's voice, Ginny dropped her books and froze like a deer caught in the headlights.

"What is it?" she asked, cautiously bending down to retrieve her textbooks.

"It's about my father."

Ginny stood up and worried her bottom lip with her teeth. Taking in a deep breath, she turned away, failing to meet his Draco's eyes.

"Look, Malfoy, you don't need to tell me. I know I'm in the wrong here," she admitted, swallowing her pride. "I've been trying to avoid Lucius ever since we got out of the infirmary, but he's making it rather difficult."

Draco sighed, giving a reluctant nod. "Yes, he's not one to be ignored."

"I'm sorry, Malfoy. You were right." Draco's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "I should have never gone to Hogsmeade with him. I should have never kissed him—"

"What!"

Draco's eyes had darkened a steel-grey and he took a threatening step forward while she took a hesitant step back.

"I-I—"

"You _kissed_ my father?" Draco reached out with lightning quick speed and grabbed her by the wrist. "How could you, Weasley?"

"I-I'm sorry. It was a mistake." She couldn't even bring herself to wrest her hand from his grasp. "He's so charming and—"

"Can't you find someone else to snog? Someone your own age, maybe?" Draco snarled, and Ginny blinked twice.

"But he _is_ my age."

Draco took a step back, letting go of her wrist. "That's not what I meant. I..." He trailed off with a shake of his head. "We can fix this."

"How?"

Draco loosened his tie and leaned back against the wall with a bone-tired sigh. "If he thinks you're a slag, he'll—"

Ginny brought her hand up to slap him, but he anticipated it, catching her by the wrist.

"Do _not_ try that again," he warned.

Ginny met his gaze with dark eyes and Draco knew she wanted to slap him again. Still, she couldn't seem to make herself move. He had her trapped, pushed up against the wall. Her breathing had sped up to a slightly frantic colour and he suddenly found himself keeping her gaze for a little too long.

"I am not going to act like a whore," she ground out, and Draco let go of her wrist.

He took a step back, giving her some space, and himself. He didn't know why she aggravated him so, but she did. So rarely did he lose his temper and lash out, not since he was young and certainly not towards a girl. No one quite worked him up the way she did.

"You don't have to _be_ a whore," he said quietly. "You just have to make him jealous."

"How? I can't just make out with _anyone_. That would alter someone else's future."

Draco let out laboured sigh and stuffed his fists into his trouser pockets. "How about me, then?"

"W-what?"

"You heard me."

"I thought I did, but..." She paused. "What are you proposing, Malfoy?"

Draco took his hands out of his pockets and took a step towards. Ginny held her ground, refusing to be intimidated, and he had to admit he was somewhat impressed. She wasn't a wilting flower or some damsel in distress. She was strong, confident and cocky. Draco understood a little while his father was smitten: he was attracted to her power.

"Listen, he already hates me," Draco said. "Kissing me isn't going to change anyone's future in _this_ timeline."

He still couldn't believe he was suggesting this, but was there any other alternative? He had to get his mother and father together. His life depended on it.

Ginny stumbled back. "Y-you want me to _kiss_ you?"

"No," he said, reaching out to grab a hold of her and steady her upright. "I mean... it's the only way, Weasley."

Ginny bit her lip and took a tentative step forward. "For the greater good?"

Draco looked down into her honey-coloured eyes and brought a hand to her cheek, running his fingers along her smooth skin. Her eyes fluttered shut and she leaned forward, so trusting, and his fingers grazed along her temples until the swept into her hairline. He held her head firmly and she let out a short gasp, opening her eyes to see him smirking at her with half-lidded eyes. He bent down, his lips barely grazing hers.

"For the greater..."

"What is this?" a voice boomed, and both Draco and Ginny jumped apart as though they had just been electrocuted.

"Lucius?" The shorter but broader Malfoy was glaring at them both. "I-it's n-nothing. I—"

"I will see you in class, Geneviève," Lucius said, dismissing her. "I need to discuss something with Drago here."

Lucius didn't even bother to turn back to see if she was leaving. His attention was fixed on Draco alone.

"No, Lucius," Ginny said defiantly, and both Draco and Lucius turned to look at her, bewildered.

Again, Draco was somewhat impressed.

"I will not have you hexing him again," she threatened, and Lucius raised a pale blond eyebrow at her impetuousness; however, his expression was inscrutable.

"I promise that I will not hurt him, Geneviève," he assured her, offering her a charming smile.

Ginny frowned. She would not be so easily fooled. Her eyes met Draco's and he nodded, mentally telling her that it was okay for her to leave. She reluctantly lowered her eyes and turned around, slowly ascending the stairs to class.

Once she was out of sight, Lucius turned on Draco. His countenance had darkened considerably, giving Draco pause.

"What did I tell you about Geneviève? She is not yours."

"She's not yours, either," Draco said with a sneer, not sure why Lucius's overt display of possessiveness irked him so greatly. His father didn't bloody well own Ginny Weasley.

"Shall we settle this like men?" Lucius suggested, resting his hand on his wand holster, and Draco's eyes narrowed with a scowl.

"I'm not going to fight you over a girl."

"Then what will you fight over?" Lucius asked seriously. "I will have her, Drago. There is no mistaking that. However... when I'm done with her, you may have what's left—"

Lucius suddenly went tumbling down the stairs, sprawling out onto the floor in a rather undignified manner. A crowd of students gathered round and looked up to see the Durmstrang student standing mid-way up the stairs with his fist still cocked and his chest heaving.

Draco had just punched his father!

His father!

"So be it, Unglaub," Lucius growled as he rose to his feet, wiping the blood from underneath his nose. "Tomorrow morning, at dawn, behind the changing rooms. Get yourself a second and arrange for your own funeral."

There was a great murmur amongst the crowd and Draco unclenched his fist.

"I'll be there," he said, feeling the adrenaline still pumping through his veins.

What has he done?

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Have you heard?"

"Heard what?"

"Lucius is duelling that Durmstrang boy, Drago, tomorrow morning."

"What?"

Ginny stormed out of the Slytherin common room and made a beeline for Lucius's quarters. She barged through the door, sending a half-naked Charles Nott toppling onto his arse. He glared at Ginny with both annoyance and wonderment, but she just walked past him.

"Geneviève, what are you—?"

Ginny cut Lucius's questioning off with a simple raise of her hand while the other rested on her hip. "Lucius, what iz zis I 'ear aboot you duelling Drago?"

Her eyes were dark and narrowed and Lucius lifted a blond eyebrow in surprise—surprise at how feisty and intrepid the French girl could be. It was almost contradicting how one minute she would be demure and gentle and the next she would be a ball of energy, like a little spitfire hellion. He probably wondered why she was sorted into Slytherin. She seemed to have no control over her emotions whatsoever.

"Geneviève, it is a matter of honour: yours. I am simply defending you."

He had crafted his expression to appear concerned but Ginny just growled at him. Literally growled.

"I do not need _you_ to defend me!"

Before he could reply, before he could even digest her sudden change in demeanour, Ginny turned on her heel and stormed out of his room, knocking Nott back down on her way out.

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Draco, what the bloody hell is going on?"

Draco looked up from his book to see Ginny standing in front of him. She was breathing rather heavily, as if she had run all the way to the library to find him.

"My father wants me to duel him," he stated simply, figuring that was the topic she wished to discuss.

"You cannot be serious," she said with a roll of her eyes, and Draco merely shrugged indifferently.

"I hit him without provocation, Weasley, like some kind of commoner." He scrunched up his nose in disgust. "It was quite the spectacle, to be honest. I dare say that I haven't the foggiest notion what got into me. Regardless, honour demands that I grant his request to a duel."

"Honour be damned!" Ginny spat, putting both hands on her slender hips. "I am going to speak to Dumbledore and put an end to this!"

Ginny then turned on her heel, her second dramatic exeunt of the evening, and barged out of the library with her long blonde hair billowing.

"Weasley, wait!"

Draco ran after her, ignoring the loud and scathing hushes hissed at him. He grabbed her by the forearm and spun her around. She looked livid, to the point where she was either going to break someone's face or break down crying. Quite frankly, he was uncomfortable with either option.

"You can't just stop this."

"Yes, I can!" She boldly lifted her chin but did not try to extract her arm from his grip. "I am not going to see you killed by your father. This is all my fault and I intend to fix it."

**.**

**.**

**.**

"German, are you going to duel him or what?" Sirius asked Draco for the umpteenth time, causing the blond's jaw to clench to the point where the muscle had begun to spasm.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I am not stupid?"

Draco pushed past the annoying fifth-year and took off out through the Fat Lady portrait towards the Great Hall for dinner.

"That has yet to be proven," Sirius called out from behind as he, James, Remus and Peter all trailed Draco down the tower stairs like a bunch of lost little puppies.

"Pardon me?" Draco snarled back, turning around to face the slightly shorter Gryffindor.

"Well, you did get into a fight with him over that French girl," Sirius said with a smirk that rivalled Draco's.

"I did not get into a fight with him over Gin—over the French girl!" Draco corrected, exasperated.

It was because of Ginny that he had got into this mess in the first place, but then it was also because of her that he had got out of it. She had reported the incident to Dumbledore and both Lucius and Draco were called into the headmaster's office. Their wands were taken away and were to be kept until tomorrow after breakfast. Both were told that there would be no duel and that the headmaster would be watching them closely.

Draco had to be somewhat thankful. While Draco was a skilled dueller, his father was better—and more willing to fight dirty. Draco could be underhanded too, but there was always that annoying, nagging voice at the back of his mind that never permitted him to do so. Even when he duelled Harry Potter he had been fair—well, as fair as a Slytherin and a Malfoy could be. He supposed he had acquired this quality from his mother. Lucius could be a noble man, but _this_ Lucius was a teenager and he was fighting over the possession of a girl. There was no way Draco could expect an honest or fair fight.

"Yeah, and Prongs here doesn't get into rows with Snape because he likes Evans," Sirius quipped, shaking Draco from his musings.

"Padfoot!" James griped, pushing Sirius forward from behind.

"Sirius is right," Remus added quietly, and James turned to look at the gangly boy with an open mouth.

"Moony, not you too!"

"You all gossip too much," Draco remarked with annoyance, and James furrowed his brow with a frown.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're like a gaggle of girls," Draco snarked, and Remus had to suppress the urge to laugh aloud.

"I resent that," Sirius said all-too-convincingly, but he too was trying hard not to laugh.

"Speaking of girls," Peter said, causing everyone to turn around and follow his gaze, "here comes one of your groupies, Drago."

Draco glanced up to see his mother waltzing towards him from the Entrance Hall.

"Oh Merlin, no," he groaned, wishing he could magically sink into the floor.

"The only two you don't have drooling after you are Evans and that Beauxbatons girl," Sirius commented dryly, watching as his cousin make her way over to them.

"You better not have Evans going after you," James growled. "It's bad enough that she's thick as thieves with that greasy git, Snape. I don't need _you_ as competition."

"You needn't worry about that," Draco assured the younger Gryffindor, trying hard not to roll his eyes or grimace in disgust. The last girl Draco wanted to get familiar with was Lily Evans. Well, second last. His mother was his number one fear.

Draco then felt a light punch to his shoulder and turned to see James Potter shooting him a lopsided grin—the kind that bespoke of gratitude and affection, like the younger Gryffindor was considering Draco a mate. My how Draco wanted to slap that expression off James's face.

"Drago, how are you this evening?" Narcissa asked with a smooth, cheery voice as she reached his side.

"Good," he answered, forcing a smile. "How are you, Miss Black?"

"Please, Drago, call me Cissa." She smiled warmly and Draco had to talk himself into not running away. "I am wonderful. Thank you so much for asking."

She glanced over his shoulder and saw the Marauders smirking at them, listening to every word, so she grabbed his arm and led him away from the nosy quartet.

"Drago, I was wondering if you'd like to go for a walk with me after dinner. I know it's a little cool outside, but we could find ways to warm each other up." She leaned into him and glanced up at him through long lashes. "It could be like a date."

The look in her eyes was suggestive, as was her tone, and Draco swallowed nervously.

"Sorry, I..."

Draco paused. He had briefly considered saying something along the lines of 'I no good speak English', but she already knew that he could understand and speak perfect English, so he couldn't very well default to 'I'm a foreigner'.

"I must go practise Quidditch after dinner with my... mates." He motioned to the Marauders, who were still standing behind him, still smirking. "Maybe later this week?"

She seemed a little disappointed with his answer but decided not to show it. Instead, she squeezed his arm once and, before she let go, winked at him. "I'll hold you to that."

"Excellent," Draco said dryly, watching her leave to enter the Great Hall, and Sirius strode up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Smooth, German. Smooth."

Draco shrugged off his hand. "Shut it, Black."

"We really do need to practise anyway," James said absently, as they all turned back and made their way to the Gryffindor table with Draco trailing behind.

"Big game coming up before Christmas hols," Sirius added with a nod.

"Not too long before Christmas break too," James said. "Less than a month to go." He then took a seat and offered Draco the one next to him. "Hey, Drago, I forgot to ask you: what are you doing for the Christmas holidays?"

Draco shrugged indifferently. He had hoped to be going home by then, but who knew how long Dumbledore's testing was going to take. "Staying here, I guess."

"Oh," James said with a weird look on his face. "I was wondering—"

"Prongs, there goes Snape, and he's without Evans." Sirius elbowed James in the ribs and pointed to Severus, who seemed to be making his way towards the Entrance Hall instead of the dining room. "Let's go bug him."

"Er, alright," James agreed somewhat reluctantly, standing up to join Sirius. "You guys coming?"

"Nah, I'm going to go to the library," Remus said with a shake of his head, piling food onto his plate.

James then looked over at Draco, who also shook his head.

"I have an essay due for Transfiguration tomorrow. I'll be in the library too, I suppose." He briefly glanced at Remus and then turned to his plate. "Come get me when you are going to practise though."

James and Sirius looked disappointed but they both nodded. "Will do," James said. "Wormtail, you coming?"

Peter nodded and the three Marauders took off towards the Entrance Hall to torture Snape. Draco absently wondered what they were going to do to the dour Slytherin. It really wasn't any concern of his or in his best interest to get involved. Besides, the former Potions master was quite capable of taking care of himself and, if he wasn't, Lily certainly was.

"I'm staying here too—for the holidays, that is," Remus stated somewhat shyly, and Draco picked at his food.

"Brilliant," he drawled, showing his obvious disinterest in the fact that he'd be spending the Christmas holidays with a werewolf. Needless to say, he was less than enthused.

Remus cast Draco a sidelong glance and the shadow of a smile crossed his haggard features. "So, you'd rather go to James's house, then?"

"Touché."

Remus knew very well what James was angling at by asking the 'Durmstrang' boy about where he would be spending his holidays. The less annoying Marauder could read people well. Draco knew this too and he almost laughed at the absurdity of Harry Potter's father trying to befriend him.

The two said nothing more to each other and silently went about their meal. Draco could barely eat two bites: too many thoughts spinning through his head.

Hopefully Dumbledore would have the Time-Turner fixed before Christmas holidays. And while Remus was probably the most tolerable Gryffindor Draco had ever met, he really didn't fancy staying here in this time period any long. He wanted to go home.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Ginny had tried to sneak out of the Slytherin dormitories without being detected by Lucius. Unfortunately, the boy always seemed to know where she was or where she'd be. Ever since she stormed into his room and ultimately reported him to Dumbledore, he had been keeping track of her movements to the point of obsession.

He didn't appear to be upset or angry with her. If anything, he seemed to be even more enamoured with her. Draco's plan to get Lucius jealous had obviously backfired. Lucius appeared more determined now than ever to make Ginny his.

Ashamedly, Ginny was still attracted to the undeniably handsome Slytherin. At the same time, though, she had also come to realise (and remember) who Lucius was as well as who he'd become. He was the man who would later give her a cursed diary that would forever change her life. While Ginny could not condemn him for something he had not yet done, she knew what he was capable of, as indicated by what he did and tried to do to his own son.

Plus there was the big underlining issue, which was that Lucius Malfoy was Draco's father and Narcissa's future husband. Ginny dating Lucius Malfoy messed with his future and the future in general, really. She had to stop mucking up the past and fix all that she had done wrong.

Until she could find a way to do that, Lucius stuck to her side like glue. He escorted her to the Great Hall for dinner, much to her chagrin, for she could feel eyes constantly on her. Lucius was charming and attentive, but she was beginning to feel as if it were a show.

It had been almost a week since Lucius had his wand returned to him and rumours were still flying about how Lucius and Drago were fighting over her. Maybe Lucius's recent attentiveness was a way of telling the school that he had won the girl?

Ginny had wanted to talk to Draco about it, but aside from not being able to get away from Lucius, Ginny was rather hesitant to speak with her fellow time traveller. Ever since their close encounter on the Astronomy Tower stairs, Ginny had found herself feeling somewhat nervous and apprehensive around Draco. It was the same kind of feeling she had around Lucius when she had first met him—only this feeling with Draco was slightly different. She couldn't quite place her finger on how exactly different it was, and she really didn't want to examine her feelings any time soon.

Lucius and Ginny sat down at the Slytherin table and Ginny greeted Narcissa, who sat to her left. The pretty blonde absently returned Ginny's salutation but her attention was wholly fixed elsewhere. Ginny followed Cissa's adoring gaze and found it resting on none other than the other grey-eyed blond who got her into this mess: Draco Malfoy.

Ginny scowled. All of the girls seemed to be looking at him as of late, tripping over their feet and tongues to talk to him. So what that he had bested Lucius and knocked him down a flight of stairs? So what that he had survived a fall off his broom? So what that he was good-looking? Wait, no. No, he wasn't good-looking. No. Well, okay, maybe he was... a little.

It was with these conflicting thoughts bouncing around Ginny's mind when the aforementioned blond set his gaze on her. She blinked a few times and then scowled. He was probably looking at his mother or his father and accidentally let his eyes rest on her. Those penetrating grey eyes of his—no, those _stupid_ dingy grey Malfoy eyes of his!

"Students, I have an announcement," Dumbledore said loudly, just as their food appeared in front of them.

Ginny turned her attention to the front of the hall, wondering what announcement the headmaster had in store for them. He surely wasn't going to reveal who she and Draco were and that their Time-Turner was fixed, was he? No, most certainly not. That was a ridiculous notion. Still, she couldn't help but feel apprehensive.

"This Christmas at Hogwarts there will be a ball," he announced with a twinkle in his eyes. "The Hogwarts Christmas Ball."

There was a loud murmuring amongst the students at every table.

"As some of you may or may not know, the Christmas Ball is held randomly and is generally not announced until a few weeks before Christmas." Louder whispering commenced with some confessing that they knew this fact while others shamelessly admitted their ignorance. "The ball begins early Christmas Eve and lasts until midnight."

"Why is it random, Headmaster?" an intrepid and curious Hufflepuff asked, earning himself a mixture of glares as well as nods of appreciation from the other tables.

"The ball is supposed to foster peace and harmony amongst houses. It encourages positive interaction—something that we have been lacking this year." Dumbledore peered over the rims of his half-moon spectacles at both the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables. "Only fifth-years and up are allowed to attend and you are all encouraged to stay here for the holidays. The train will follow its normal schedule as well as come back on Christmas morning to take those of you back to your families."

The entire hall went silent for a moment and then erupted in applause, although the younger ones lamented their ineligibility to attend. Everyone began chattering excitedly and Lucius excused himself from the table, exciting the Great Hall.

Ginny watched him go with a frown, wondering where he was going, when the girls around her started to giggle and squeal.

"Oh, I hope Parkinson asks me."

"Of course he'll ask you, Vi. He's your boyfriend!"

"He's my brother, so if he doesn't as you, I'll kill him!"

"Who do you think will ask you, Cissa?"

"Drago, I hope," the blonde replied wistfully, and her three roommates began to giggle.

"He is rather handsome," Mary admitted with a blush.

"Too bad he's a Gryffindor," Beth added with disdain as the other girls agreed.

"I know," Narcissa agreed with a sigh, resting her chin on her slender hand. "He's so much like a Slytherin though."

Vi snorted. "So much like Lucius, you mean."

"Shut it!" Narcissa snapped, her face contorting into an ugly sneer, which caused Violet to recoil. The blonde then raised an eyebrow and smirked, sticking out her tongue and winking at her girlfriend, who then began to laugh.

"So who will our lovely little Gin will be going with?" Narcissa asked, smiling sweetly at Ginny now.

"I do not know," Ginny admitted truthfully, looking somewhat bashful.

"Of course you do," Mary admonished. "We all know that Lucius will ask you."

All four girls nodded in agreement.

"Maybe I will not say yes," Ginny stated defiantly, holding her pointed chin high.

"Oh, brave girl!" Vi snorted again. "Someone has a little bit of Gryffindor in her."

"I wouldn't mind some Gryffindor in me," Narcissa drawled, glancing over at the Gryffindor table and biting her lower lip.

Ginny's mouth dropped open in shock.

"Cissa!" Mary cried, and Beth and Vi giggled.

"Oh dammit!" Narcissa cursed, ignoring the girls as she made to rise from her seat and then thought best not to. "A crowd has already formed around him. I'll have to catch him after practice."

Ginny saw the gaggle of girls surrounding Draco and frowned.

"You have his routine down pat and everything, eh, Cissa?" Vi asked with a sly grin on her face and then winked. "You little stalker, you."

"Oh sod off, Vi!" Narcissa laughed, swatting playfully at her friend.

The girls then began to talk about what kind of frocks they'd wear and how they'd style their hair. Ginny listened absently, agreeing when necessary. Her attention, however, was fixed on Draco, who appeared as though he were trying to swat away flies, which in actuality were girls.

He finally got up from his table and Ginny decided to follow him. Maybe it would be best for her to ask him to the ball, thus allowing Lucius to take Narcissa. But Ginny going with Draco wouldn't ensure that Lucius would ask Narcissa. Cissa seemed hell-bent on having Draco and Lucius appeared to be quite possessive of Ginny.

Just as Ginny was about to excuse herself from the table to follow Draco and have a talk with him, Lucius returned to his seat and brought her down beside him.

"Geneviève, would you like to attend the Christmas Ball with me?"

Flabbergasted, Ginny didn't know how to respond. Should she say no? Could she say no? She looked over at Draco. It was as though he was immersed in a sea of female students. All were smiling and laughing and trying to touch him while he backed himself into a corner.

So much for him hating it here in this timeline and desperately wanting to go home.

"Yes, Lucius," Ginny said, turning her attention back to the tall blond. "I'd love to go to the ball with you."

* * *

**Author's notes:** The Nott mentioned in this fic is _not_ Theodore Nott's father, as his father was one of the original followers of Voldemort and would not have attended Hogwarts with Lucius (but rather someone like McGonagall).

* * *

**Additional note** (which I would suggest not reading if you don't like dirty language):

"You don't have to _be_ a whore," he said quietly. "You just have to make him jealous."

So I read this part to my boyfriend, and he interrupts, stating rather vehemently, 'Well, that's a stupid plan, Draco! You're just going to make it fucking worse!' – It is somewhat disturbing when he cuts me off so that he can _directly_ address Draco, a fictional character, in order to chastise him. No more beers for Chris when I read him my stories.

At least it was a much better reaction than the one I got from him for my Snape/Lily story. He would stop me at every other line to rant about how 'This is bullshit!' or 'Lily pisses me off. Fuck her!' or my personal favourite: 'She just wanted feel his love—she wanted her cake and to eat it too! You know what that is? That's selfishness. I hope she chokes on what's-his-name's cock. Lia, you write some fucked up shit. That's all I have to say.'

FYI, he's a Marine, so he swears _a lot_. I should write a story about him, shouldn't I?


	8. Plan A Failed Miserably

Plan A Failed Miserably, Moving On to Plan B

**.**

**.**

After dinner last night, and escaping the many girls who tried to block his escape route, Draco had taken to a long broom ride. He was trying to stay out as late as possible so that he could avoid the numerous witches who wanted him to ask them to the ball. He was used to attention from the Slytherin girls and even the occasional Ravenclaw, but not the entire female population. This was becoming ridiculous.

Draco decided that enough was enough. He needed his mother and every other female in this school out of his hair. He was going to talk to Dumbledore about keeping him and Ginny out of school until the blasted Time-Turner was fixed. Feeling extremely charitable, Draco considered informing Ginny first. However, before he could even think to get her attention, he had received an owl at the crack of dawn from the ex-Gryffindor herself. She had asked him to meet her in the library before breakfast.

After sifting through his wardrobe for suitable attire, Draco got dressed and made his way to the library and headed towards the back. He glanced around to see a few studious students working on essays and the like and frowned. He hadn't even known that the library was open this early in the morning.

Weaving in and out of the shelves of books, he finally located a table in the lounge section. There he spotted the familiar golden coif of a petite witch, who was absently drumming her fingers on the table.

"Weasley," Draco said a little too roughly, and Ginny jumped in her seat.

"So you've heard?"

"Heard what?" He didn't like the way she was avoiding his gaze or fidgeting in her seat.

"That Lucius asked me to the ball."

"He WHAT?"

There was a loud shush and Draco whipped his head around to glower at the perpetrator, causing the student to recoil in horror.

"I swear it's like you're selectively deaf," Ginny said, exasperated, and Draco turned back to face her. "I said your father asked me out to the Christmas Ball."

"I'm not deaf, Weasley. I just don't process absurdity well." Draco then sighed and rubbed his forehead with the heel of his palm. "So you said no, naturally."

Obviously she just wanted to inform him of his father's intentions, to give him a heads-up.

"No..." She gave him that nervous look again, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth, and Draco's eyes narrowed.

"No you said no or no you didn't say no or no—wait, hold on. I'm confused." He raised a hand to silence her while he brought the other hand to his eyes to rub at them tenderly. "Just tell me that you refused."

"I accepted."

He lowered both hands and took a threatening step forward. "Weasley, are you insane?"

"I didn't want him to hurt you," she said defensively. "He's your father—"

"Exactly, and I'd like it to remain that way." He clenched his hands into fists. "Weasley, don't you see that by dating my father you are preventing him from getting together with my mother and thus hindering my birth?"

Ginny stood still and pondered on the notion for a moment. She brought a finger to her lip and grinned foolishly to herself.

"Well..."

"Don't even think about it, Weasley," he warned, pointing a hostile finger. "I _will_ be born!"

"But it's just one date, one ball, _one_ dance," she said dismissively, and Draco rolled his eyes at her naïveté.

"Yes, one that my father originally asked my mother to. It was the dance they kissed at and began their courtship, which, ergo, led to my conception."

"On the same night?" she asked incredulously.

"On the same ni—what—no! I was not literally conceived _that_ night, Weasley, but it did begin their relationship."

Ginny let out a sigh and shook her golden locks. She turned her face up at him, giving him a predictably determined look. She was either going to flip him off and yell at him or come up with a Gryffindor version of a crafty idea—the kind where people (namely him) got wounded, maimed or possibly killed. He really hoped she would just yell at him.

"Listen, Malfoy, this is all happening for a reason—"

"Yeah, you! You're the reason, Weasley." He crossed his arms over his broad chest and angrily sulked.

"What I mean is we can get out of this. It's like that moo-vee _Back to the Future_."

"Huh?" He issued her a rather perplexing look. "What the hell is a 'moo-vee'?"

She waved her hand dismissively. "It doesn't matter. The thing is, I couldn't just _hope_ that your father would ask your mother out. I had to make sure of it, and I think I know how." She nodded determinedly. "It will all work out in the end."

Draco grimaced. The girl undoubtedly had some intricate and stupid plan formulated in her addled brain. There was no way it could work.

Dammit, why couldn't she just act like a predictable Weasley and fly off the handle? Then he could just swing her over his shoulder and drag her to Dumbledore's office, claim she had gone mental and therefore needed to be locked up until the Time-Turner was fixed. But, no—no, she had to get all Granger on him and come up with a 'solution'. The problem with this was that the She-Weasley wasn't borrowing Granger's somewhat competent brain for this task; she was using the Boy-Weasley's. Everything was bound to go to hell in a hand-basket.

Defeated, Draco flopped down on the settee and sighed. "Well, it must be downright comforting to live in your wonderful happy-go-lucky world, Weasley, but I am in far too much shock and outrage at the moment to break down your mental instabilities." He rested his head on the back of the settee. "We haven't the luxury to hope that everything will turn out to be sunshine and rainbows."

"You are such a pessimist," she said, sitting down beside him, and Draco rolled his head to the side so that he could look at her.

"I'm a _realist_, Weasley."

"Stop calling me Weasley, Malfoy." She glanced around the room. "Someone might hear you."

Draco snorted. "Well, hello, Pot. I'm Kettle. Nice to meet you."

"Huh?" She looked confused and then shook her head. "Oh, right. _Drago_. We need to come up with a plan, one that will ensure that your parents get together."

"All right, _Geneviève_," he relented. "What do you propose?"

"Well, obviously you and I can't flirt with one another to make Lucius jealous. Brilliant plan, that."

Draco rolled his eyes and let his head roll back. "Yes, well I forgot that my father is somewhat like me, or vice versa, and would only see our flirting as a challenge and would become even more enraptured with you."

"Really?"

Draco turned to look at Ginny and noted her softer expression. Perhaps he had revealed a bit too much to her. He was feeling decidedly uncomfortably, so he sat up in his seat and cleared his throat.

"Yes, well..."

"Drago, Gin! My two most favourite people," Narcissa said, startling both Ginny and Draco. "What are you two doing here?"

Draco opened his mouth to reply when Ginny stepped in for him.

"Wee jewst talk aboot school back 'ome," Ginny said, smiling at Narcissa, who had somehow ninja'd her way to where they were sitting and was eyeing Ginny and Draco suspiciously.

"Oh?"

"Oui, I 'ave a few brodders at Durmstrang," Ginny said, the lies dripping off her tongue.

"Oh!" Narcissa exclaimed happily. "That explains why you two seem as thick as thieves lately."

"Pardon?" Draco asked, drawing himself up rigidly.

"You two are always off together in the library or near Dumbledore's office," Narcissa said, displaying her unnerving stalking abilities.

She truly was a most observant witch.

"Yes, we have to give reports for back home," Draco explained with a forced smile. "And Dumbledore delivers mail for us. His familiar travels long distances."

"Well, that's a relief. I thought that maybe you two liked each other." Narcissa bowed her head, looking up at them through her long lashes to gauge their reactions.

Clever _and_ crafty.

"No!" Draco exclaimed rather violently, and Narcissa's smile brightened.

"Uh no," Ginny agreed. "Cissa, excuse-nous un moment, s'il te plaît." The petite witch then grabbed Draco's arm and dragged him off the settee. "I moose talk wif Drago aboot my brodder."

"Of course." Narcissa nodded; however, Ginny could detect a glint of jealousy in her crystal blue eyes.

"Weasley, what the hell?" Draco whispered as Ginny dragged him towards a bookshelf out of earshot of his mother.

"I know how to fix this," she said, letting go of his arm.

"How?" He was not sure if he liked where this was going.

"Ask Cissa out to the ball."

No, he did not like it one bit. "What?"

"Ask her to be your date and then try to be..." Ginny paused, searching for the right words. "Try to be _forceful_ with her."

"I'll ask again, but with much more emphasis: WHAT?" Draco's eyes were as wide as saucer plates.

"You will try to be forceful with your moth—Cissa—at the ball and I will bring Lucius over so that he sees this. Outraged at seeing a woman being taken advantage of, especially by _you_, his enemy, he will come to her rescue."

"And beat the living shit out of me," Draco added with a glare.

"Maybe," Ginny admitted, putting up her hands. "But I will make sure that he doesn't hex you."

"How comforting."

"It's perfect," Ginny said, ignoring Draco's biting sarcasm. "He will save her, and she'll fall in love with him and he with her. It will be great, just like in the moo-vees."

Ginny grinned foolishly to herself while Draco frowned, wondering exactly what kind of nonsense was knocking around in that head of hers.

"I don't know what _moo-vees_ are, but they sound like Muggle rubbish to me."

She shook her head. "Just trust me."

"Famous last words, Weasley," he said darkly, pointing a finger at her. "You got us into this mess and I say you get us out of it by acting like a slag. Why don't you just start snogging every bloke in Double Potions—"

This time Ginny's hand moved too fast for Draco to anticipate and her palm stung against his cheek. He curled his hands into fists and punched them into his thighs.

"You seriously need to stop doing that."

"Stop calling me a slag then!"

"If my mother wasn't standing directly behind me, I'd—"

"You'd _what_?" She took a step forward, her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Go over and ask your mother out to the ball, Malfoy."

Ginny pointed behind Draco where Narcissa stood and Draco grumbled to himself before turning. This annoying witch just seemed to barrel through emotions, and he very much disliked being on the receiving end of them. He had nothing to do now but what she said. Hopefully she had a much more intricate plan going on upstairs that what we was made privy to..

Nostrils flaring, Draco walked back over to his mother, who was looking up at him with wide, concerned eyes.

"Why did Gin just slap you?"

"Uh." Draco fumbled for a plausible explanation. "She said that it was rude of me to have not yet asked you to be my date for the ball."

"Oh?" Narcissa looked as though she wanted to be convinced by his explanation but was having some difficulty.

"Yes, you know how the French are: slap, slap, kiss, kiss..." He paused and cleared his throat somewhat nervously. "So, would you like to go to the Christmas Ball with me, uh, Narcissa?"

"I'd love to, Drago!"

"Marvellous," Draco drawled with a feigned smile.

Narcissa leaned in close to give him a kiss on the cheek before she left the library to tell all her girlfriends who her date for the Christmas Ball was. Draco, however, wasn't keen on telling a soul, except his future therapist.

He turned around and glared at Ginny, who at least tried to look contrite.

"All right, Weasley, fill me in on this plan of yours." He palmed his face with a sigh. "All I can say is that it sure as hell had better work or I'll be in therapy for life."

**.**

**.**

**.**

After the rather embarrassing incident in the library, Draco and Ginny had managed to make their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. Ginny tried her best not to make eye contact with Draco, who was most likely trying to kill her with his glares.

He had every right to be angry with her. Ginny had thought by saying yes to Lucius she could artfully set Plan B in motion à la _Back to the Future_, but there were no guarantees. She could have denied Lucius and went to the ball with Draco, but that would have only spurned the Slytherin alpha male on, as earlier demonstrated by Plan A. What she needed to do now was to start directing Lucius's attention away from her and towards Narcissa. But how?

The blonde in question was seated next to her, chatting rather animatedly with her girlfriends about Draco. Ginny knew Narcissa's vocal obsession with Draco would pique Lucius's interest, especially if Ginny made it seem as though Cissa had won Draco from her. In the end, it was all about the male ego.

Draco, aka Lucius's arch nemesis, had previously shown an interest in Ginny, aka the Beauxbatons prize. Lucius wanted to win said prize merely for the satisfaction of taking said prize away from his arch nemesis. If Draco no longer wanted to compete for the aforementioned prize and had, instead, claimed another one—one even more valuable—then Lucius's attention would be diverted elsewhere. Basically, Ginny wanted Draco to dangle a much more expensive and highly sought after item in front of Lucius's nose. That item would be Narcissa Black.

Ginny supposed she should have explained this in her letter to Draco, but she was afraid of it being intercepted somehow. She had thought that he wouldn't take the news kindly; however, in the library he did seem more calm and rational than she had expected.

When Narcissa had finally left and Ginny was able to sit down with Draco to explain everything, he appeared to be somewhat placated; that is until she began filling him in on the specifics of the second phase of Plan B—the part that involved him trying to take advantage of his mother. He looked like he was struggling not to yell at her, or vomit. He looked constipated. However, before Ginny could go into further detail on the first phase of Plan B, they had been rudely ushered out of the library and forced to go to breakfast.

So Ginny and Draco went to the Great Hall and took their respective seats at their opposing tables. Both secretively stole glances at one another as they contemplated Plan B—Draco silently cursing Ginny's very existence and Ginny trying desperately to think of a way to reclaim her Gryffindor honour.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Dumbledore called Draco and Ginny into his office later that day. Both could hardly hide their curiosity. The headmaster had not talked to them for over a month. A month was the amount of time Dumbledore said he would need in order to research and experiment on their Time-Turner. Hopefully, he had discovered a solution to their problem and could send them back home.

Hopefully.

"I do believe I have it figured out," Dumbledore announced with a smile and clap of his hands, while Draco raised a sceptical brow.

"But?"

Draco, being the ever-pessimist, was obviously unconvinced that everything was fixed. Rarely did anything go according to plan, especially when it concerned Draco's wants and needs.

"_But_—" Dumbledore's smile widened "—it should be tested on a small scale before the both of you take off twenty years into the future."

Ginny frowned. "What does that mean, exactly?"

"Yeah," Draco added with a mixture of sarcasm and bitterness. "What happened to 'there are ways to test without having to use a human subject'?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "You misunderstood me, Mr Malfoy. It _was_ tested without human experimentation. And for all intents and purposes it is fixed. I just figured it'd be rather fun to take it out for a test spin."

Draco rolled his eyes. So, it didn't _need_ to be tested on a human. Dumbledore just wanted to 'try it out'.

"I'll do it, Headmaster," Ginny said determinedly, shocking both Dumbledore and Draco. However, Draco, however, looked a bit more disgusted than surprised.

"That is very brave of you, Miss Weasley," Dumbledore said, sounding somewhat impressed.

"Not this Gryffindor 'courage' rubbish," Draco scoffed. "Honestly, Weasley, let's just call it what it is: stupidity."

Ginny stared pointedly at the blond, who had his arms crossed over his chest. He was extremely irritated and wasn't sure why.

"I'll have you know that I am offering because I am trying to make up for everything that I have done wrong," she said, apparently affronted by Draco's inability to acknowledge the sacrifice she was willing to make, but Draco just shrugged flippantly.

"As you should."

Ginny gripped the armrests of her chair until her knuckles turned white. "You're one to talk! Have you made up for what you did in your sixth year—?"

"Enough!" Dumbledore's deep voice rang in their ears. "What did I tell you about revealing the future?" The headmaster then took in a deep breath and softened his expression. "There is no need to worry about locating a human subject. _I_ will be the one testing it out in two weeks' time."

Draco abruptly stood up, placing his hands on the desk. "Salazar, no! You mean we will be here for the—"

"Ball?" Ginny supplied, causing Draco to glare.

"Thank you for finishing my sentence, Weasley," he snapped, while Ginny just rolled her eyes.

"Yes, you will be here for the Christmas Ball," Dumbledore said. "I do believe that the both of you have some wrongs to right." He smiled at them in a knowing way—the way Santa Claus would if you had stated that you had been nice the entire year when you, in fact, hadn't.

"How did you know?" Draco found himself asking the question without realising it, and Dumbledore's smile predictably widened.

"I told you I'd be watching you both."

**.**

**.**

**.**

Draco barged his way out of Dumbledore's office, almost stepping over Ginny, who had quickly become the bane of his existence.

Why—why did she have to be such a Gryffindor? Was all that bravado necessary? She was willing to sacrifice herself to some stupid experiment so that _he_ could get home safely? Who was she trying to fool? Certainly not him. She was just trying to make him feel guilty or forget that _she_ was the reason he was in this mess to begin with.

No, he could not be easily swayed. He was not built to allow a woman to walk all over him and do with him what she pleased. Honestly, who did she think she was?

This ruddy little runt of a girl had managed to take him back into the past with her, date his father and then throw his mother onto his lap. It was some nightmarish reverse Oedipus scene from hell. And she thought she could fix it all and put a bandage on his very real woes by offering her services as a human guinea pig? Stupid, foolish, obstinate Gryffindor!

Just then Ginny walked past him and Draco stopped dead in his tracks. Why was he working himself up? Why did it matter that she was willing to sacrifice herself to test out the stupid Time-Turner? Why did it bother the hell out of him? Why? Well, it didn't matter. She wasn't testing the damnable thing out anyway.

Draco's thoughts were interrupted when he felt two slender arms encircle his waist and a pointed chin dig into his back. He smelled a subtle hint of jasmine and a perfume he couldn't quite name.

_Weasley?_ Draco abruptly shook his head. _No, she just went to the Entrance Hall stairs. Plus, she smells like strawberries._ He visibly blanched. _Wait, how do I know what she smells like? Argh, this is ridiculous!_

Draco turned around and saw that it wasn't Ginny and, for once, he was disappointed.

"Hello, Drago!"

"Good afternoon, Narcissa," Draco greeted through gritted teeth, feeling his stomach begin to churn.

His mother was a rather touchy-feely person in her youth, apparently, unlike the cold exterior she would later adopt in her adult years. Lucky for Draco he got to experience his mother's flirty side. Yes, lucky.

"So, I wanted to ask you something," Narcissa said in a tone that made Draco want to take off in a sprint down the hallway, screaming. "What colours will you be wearing to the ball?" She scrunched up her nose in distaste. "I do hope it won't be those awful Gryffindor colours. You see, I prefer green or silver."

"I will wear black or white," Draco answered mechanically, hoping his mother would just leave.

"Excellent." Narcissa clasped her hands together in glee. "I simply cannot wait. Only less than two weeks to go. Aren't you excited?"

"Yes, very."

She grabbed his arm and squeezed it, dragging him down the hall with her. At that moment Lucius came out of a classroom and looked directly at them. Draco figured this was his chance and he had to react quickly. Fighting back the revulsion he felt in the pit of his stomach and the voices that screamed in his head—telling him that it was wrong, wrong, WRONG!—Draco leaned down and gave Narcissa a quick peck on the lips. But before he could pull away, his mother had grabbed his face and slanted her mouth over his.

_Tongue! Dear Merlin, no! Mother tongue!_

Draco finally managed to disengage from his very grabby mother and wiped his mouth. It took all of his willpower not to fall into a crumbled heap on the floor and sob like a woman. Instead, he inclined his head to Narcissa and muttered something about Quidditch practice. He then half-sprinted down the hall and headed towards the Gryffindor Tower, determined to brush his lips and tongue raw with his toothbrush.

Narcissa grinned foolishly to herself and waved at Draco's retreating form. Content with her progress with the reticent Durmstrang boy, Narcissa made her way back to her own room. It was then that Lucius blocked her path, looking down at her rather condescendingly.

"I expected a Black to have better taste. I suppose you take after your cousin, Sirius, after all."

"I'm afraid you are speaking of matters in which you are uneducated, Lucius." Narcissa lifted her chin in such a manner that only seemed to infuriate the tall blond.

"Is that so?"

A muscle ticked in Lucius's jaw. He was annoyed with the younger Slytherin, yet he still walked beside her, unwilling to travel in any other direction.

"I have no time or use for games, Lucius," Narcissa said with an impatient sigh, stopping to turn around and issue him a haughty look. "If you hope to intimidate me or dissuade me from going to the ball with Drago, you will be deeply disappointed."

She offered him a thin smile, one that conveyed arrogance and confidence, and Lucius looked somewhat taken aback.

"Narcissa, I do apologise for my presumptuousness, I—"

"No, Lucius, I apologise for my impertinence—for interrupting your well-crafted speech." Narcissa sneered and then tossed her hair over her shoulder before walking off ahead of him. "However, I must be off to my room so that I can change for my next class."

Lucius stared at the retreating blonde, looking utterly dumbfounded. Just around the corner stood Ginny, covering her mouth with her hand and smirking into it with glee. Maybe her plan would work after all.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Ginny sat in silence while she ate her dinner. Lucius was seated next to her, playing the role of alpha male and possessive boyfriend, but his attention was fixed on the tall blonde who sat across from Ginny. Ginny quickly realised that any time she showed interest in Draco, Lucius would step up his game and be even more possessive. Now that Draco appeared to be showing interest in Narcissa, so was Lucius.

Ginny was certainly no mastermind or diabolical schemer, but figuring out how teenage boys' minds worked was rather simple. Give them a chase and they were interested, but not so much _after_ they had acquired their prey. So long as Ginny kept her distance from both blonds, Lucius would keep his hands to himself.

She had to admit that Lucius was a gentleman, through-and-through, but she also knew that he had his darker side. Would he make a move if she let him? Probably. And what about Draco, would he take advantage of her? For some reason she couldn't explain, Ginny didn't think so. Oddly enough, she felt completely comfortable around him. While Draco wasn't as suave as his father, he had potential. In fact, Ginny was beginning to see all of the positive traits of Lucius in Draco and almost none of the negative.

She stabbed at her salad with her fork and sighed. She had started thinking about Draco again. What was wrong with her? The aquiline blond had begun to invade her every thought as of late and it was annoying. What was so special about this boy? Nothing. It wasn't like he was Harry—

_Oh, Harry._

Ginny suddenly felt sick to her stomach. She had almost forgot about Harry, the boyfriend who was waiting for her in the future. _Harry_ was her boyfriend, not Lucius or Draco. Harry. Yes, she had to convince herself of that.

So why did the mentioning of Harry only make her feel guilty like she had cheated on him in some way? So she had kissed Lucius. That wasn't really cheating—okay, maybe it was. But it wasn't her brief fling with Lucius that made her feel remorse. What made Ginny feel culpable was that she no longer felt butterflies in her stomach when she saw Lucius or thought of Harry. No longer did those two boys stir feelings of love or adoration in her. Now all she looked forward to was arguing with Draco.

How sick was that? And how could seeing Draco make her feel nervous, angry and excited all at once?

_Oh Merlin, no!_ Ginny cried in sudden realisation, closing her eyes. _I'm infatuated with Draco Malfoy!_

Yeah, Ginny's life wasn't complicated at all.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Draco looked over at the Slytherin table and saw his mother making moon-eyes at him. His spoon trembled as he dipped it into the soup bowl. He suddenly didn't feel so hungry anymore and he let his spoon clatter onto the table. He glanced past his mother to see Ginny with her eyes closed as if in pain. She opened them and looked directly at him and then quickly turned her face away and... blushed?

Why in Merlin's name was she blushing? He had never known the girl to be incredibly bashful. Of course he had never really known the girl at all until this term. She was a contradictory creature, like most women; however, there was just something about her. Most of the time he wanted to reach out and throttle her little neck; other times he enjoyed a playful banter with her (as she was incredibly easy to rile up); sometimes he just wanted to grab her and shut her up by crushing his lips against hers.

Wait-a-sec—did he just think that? Did he just imagine kissing Ginny Weasley?

Draco closed his eyes and brought a forefinger and thumb to the bridge of his nose. He had considered owling Ginny to arrange another meeting but he was somewhat hesitant to do so—to meet her again, that was. He couldn't stop thinking about what he had almost done on the stairs of the Astronomy Tower.

He had almost kissed her and it wasn't just because he wanted to get his father jealous so that he'd stop dating her. As much as Draco wanted to convince himself that he had done all to preserve his existence (and that was the majority of his reasoning), he had to admit that he wanted to kiss the Weasley girl. He, Draco Malfoy, found Ginny Weasley attractive enough to kiss!

The gods were sick, twisted and cruel.

Out of nowhere, Draco received a sharp elbow to the ribs. He grunted, giving the offender the most scathing look possible. It was Sirius (of course). He merely grinned at Draco's scowl.

"Would you stop checking out my cousin!" he reprimanded with that impudent yet cheeky look on his dark face, and Draco recoiled.

"I am not!"

"It's okay. I think you'd do her some good, German," Sirius said with a good-natured grin, and Draco's scowl deepened.

Why—why did these fifth-years have to sit near him?

Just then an owl swooped down and dropped a letter into his hands. He frowned. _Gods, is Mother sending me love notes now?_

He looked over at the Slytherin table to see his mother had turned around to frown at him while his father stole glances at them both. Ginny was looking up at him slyly through her lashes and Draco glanced back down at the letter, immediately tearing it open.

_D,_

_We need to meet again to discuss Plan B. Do you think you can disentangle yourself from your groupies to meet me tomorrow morning before class, in front of Potions?_

_- G_

Draco looked up and nodded, acknowledging the letter and her terms to meet. Ginny then gave a serious nod back and returned to the contents of her plate; however, Draco could see the faintest outline of a smile on her lips and he could not help but smirk triumphantly.

_She thinks about me too—_

"Oi, Drago, what are you grinning about?" James asked, stirring Draco from his thoughts.

"I, uh."

Draco fumbled for words, embarrassed that he had been caught staring and grinning at Ginny. He turned to look out the large doors of the Great Hall to see Evans and Snape standing outside, talking animatedly.

"I'm watching your girlfriend flirt with Snape."

James's jaw dropped. They all watched as Lily and Severus parted ways—she seating herself at the Gryffindor table while Snape settled down at Slytherin.

"Evans, what was _that_ about?" James asked, looking somewhat affronted. "Was Snivellus asking you out on a date?"

"No, actually I was." Lily smiled and sat down beside one of her girlfriends, Mary. "I asked him to go to the Christmas Ball with me."

James's face fell and Sirius clasped a hand onto his best mate's shoulder.

"What the bloody hell is going on with Gryffindors asking Slytherins to be their dates?" James asked out of desperation, and Sirius snorted.

"Disgusting, innit?" Sirius then looked directly at Draco, who only scowled and shook his head.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Draco managed to drag his arse out of bed at the crack of dawn—again. It reminded him of how he used to get up early for Quidditch practice.

He wasn't going out flying, though (thank Merlin since it was 0'C outside). No, he was going to meet with Ginny to discuss her undoubtedly ingenious plan. He wondered how much she had improved upon it. Maybe now her plan was for him to flirt with his father. If his mother issues didn't have him in therapy for the rest of his life, being forced to kiss his father would certainly scar him beyond repair.

Draco stretched and ambled his way to the showers. As he stood underneath the nozzle, feeling the hot water kneed and caress his skin, he tilted his head back and ran his hands through his white-blond hair. He brought the soapy loofah to his chest and began washing his upper body, absently wondering whether he preferred Ginny as a blonde or redhead.

She was rather attractive with long curly blonde hair, pale skin (sans freckles) and sea-green eyes, but as pretty as that look may have been, it didn't quite suit her. It wasn't natural enough. Now the fiery red hair matched her temper and the freckles only made her look more street-urchin like—not that he preferred the poor, ruddy Weasley look. Or maybe he did.

_Why the hell am I thinking about the Weasley girl's hairstyles?_

Draco groaned aloud. Well, at least he wasn't waxing prose about her eyes this time. He let out a deep sigh and stepped out of the showers. Grabbing a towel, he began to dry off his face. He had to put an end to these ridiculous daydreams. He had to end this affinity he seemed to have developed for Ginny. She was nothing but trouble—trouble that he didn't want any part of.

After dressing and fixing his hair in front of the mirror for the umpteenth time, he made his way out the portrait door and down the stairs to the Entrance Hall. He then took the other set of stairs and descended into the dungeons.

"Wotcho doin' 'ere?"

Draco turned and scowled at the caretaker. "I'm going to class," he remarked flippantly, but Argus Filch would have none of this.

"Class ain't fer another hour. Yeh get back to the Great Hall or it'll be detention fer yeh," he warned, but Draco wasn't one to be easily intimidated.

"Why you nosy, old codger." Draco bit the inside of his cheek, annoyed with the rank, old Squib. "I have every right to go to class. You cannot tell me where to go, you filthy Sq—"

"Drago!" a voice shouted vehemently, and Draco turned.

"What?"

"Apologise to him," Ginny commanded, walking up beside him, and Draco scoffed. "I am zorry, Monsieur Filch." She turned to the caretaker and offered him an apologetic smile. "We were supposed to meet e'rly for Potions. Professor Slug'orn 'as given us pair-mish-un."

Filch's face softened somewhat considerably when he saw Ginny, but he still eyed Draco warily.

"Oh, a'right then, Miss Belette," he complied, allowing the two to pass.

Ginny smiled thankfully and then turned to narrow her eyes on Draco. "Drago?" She pointed to Filch.

"I'm not going to—" Ginny elbow him in his side and he growled. He was growing soft, letting this little runt push him around. "Fine. I'm sorry I yelled at you," he apologised lamely.

Filch didn't look convinced but he let the ghost of a smile adorn his lips as he regarded Ginny. "Yer lucky yeh 'ave Miss Belette 'ere," he said, turning to head off back up the stairs.

"Yes, very fortunate," Draco remarked facetiously, glancing down at Ginny, who was waving to the caretaker.

"Au revoir!" she called, and Filch graced her with a wave, which made the girl giggle somewhat triumphantly.

Draco grabbed her by the arm and spun her around. Now it was his turn to manhandle her. "What was that all about?"

Ginny tugged her arm back but was still smiling. "He likes me. I'm nice to him."

"You're nice to everyone." Draco dropped his hand and scowled. "A little _too_ nice, if you ask me."

"Yes, well, no one's asking you." Ginny stuck out her tongue. "And you need to learn to be nicer."

Draco folded his arms across his chest. "Have you not seen me holding back from hexing those Marauders?"

Ginny snorted. "Yes, I have. Very admirable of you."

Draco lowered his arms and sighed. "So, what is this plan, Weasley? You already told me what I have to try to do with—with my mother." He already felt the bile rise to his throat.

Ginny directed him to one of the benches outside of Potions and began to go into detail about what Draco had to do before the ball and during, most of which involved flirting with his mother, showing her affection and the like. Meanwhile, Ginny would act clingy towards Lucius and talk about marriage—anything to drive him off.

"That is the stupidest plan I've ever heard," was the first thing Draco said after Ginny had finished speaking.

"Why can't you just keep an open mind?" Ginny asked, stomping her foot in exasperation.

"I would if your ideas were remotely feasible and not as disturbing as hell."

"Merlin's left nut!" Ginny cursed, folding her arms beneath her breasts. "You are such an infuriating boy."

Just then her Weasley temper flared and she pushed him while he was seated on the bench. Pushed him!

Draco leapt to his feet and shoved her back. "I swear, Weasley, I—"

"You swear _what_, Malfoy?" Her tiny fingers were digging into his shoulder as she violently shoved him back yet again.

He caught her by the wrists and pulled her into him with a hard, swift motion, knocking her body into his.

"Weasley—" he held her hands above her head "—you _will_ control your emotions and curb your temper."

"Or else, _what_?" she spat, inadvertently pressing herself up against him, causing his body to react. "You're going to punish me?"

Draco growled. "I will—"

Suddenly, Draco felt himself being thrown back and pinned against the wall. Ginny had his hands behind his back and was pressing herself against him with such force to prevent him from moving that he could feel every contour of her body. He could even feel her heart beat in her chest against his stomach.

"Where's your bravado now?"

She gave him a cocky grin and tightened her grip, but Draco freed his hands and whipped her around, slamming her back into the door. He wedged a knee between her legs as he raised her hands high above her head once more, assuaging his frustrations against her core. He had no idea what made him do this, what notion or reason he had in rubbing himself against this girl. He had to be going insane.

"You were saying, Weasley?" he said, giving her his most patented Malfoy smirk.

"Shut it, Malfoy!"

"Make me," he retorted, looking down at her chest, memorised by the way it heaved.

Suddenly there was a blur of pink and Ginny's hands reached out to grab his face, bringing his lips down to hers. It took a moment for him to register what was happening: Ginny Weasley was kissing him!

After what seemed like an eternity of hesitation, Draco finally gave in and closed his eyes, returning her kiss. He brought one hand to her waist and picked her up to press against her while his other hand tangled in her thick hair, tilting her head back so that he could have better access to her lips and neck.

"Perhaps you two would do better with a broom cupboard," a seemingly disembodied voice suggested out of nowhere.

They both sprang back, wiping at their lips in shock and searching for the owner of the voice. It turned out not to be a ghost but rather Severus Snape.

"You'd be less hindered by other students needing to get past you to enter the classroom that you have so ingeniously decided to display your nauseating tug-of-war display of sexual tension," Snape retorted dryly.

Ginny blushed a deep shade of pink and glanced past the younger Slytherin, looking for a crowd nearby. Draco searched too and noticed that, thankfully, it was just the three of them.

"Snape." He cleared his throat uncomfortably, but the future Potions Master already had his wand drawn and was aiming it at Draco's head.

"Not _this_ time, Unglaub," he warned, and Draco raised his hands defensively, showing that he was unarmed. Snape lowered his wand but did not sheath it. Instead, he sneered at both Draco and Ginny as he walked past them into the classroom. "You can go back to vacillating on whether or not you're attracted to the Beauxbatons girl; however, I need to get to class, as will several more students in a minute or so."

Draco glanced at Ginny, who was looking extremely worried, chewing on her bottom lip. Draco let out a frustrated sigh and averted his gaze to the ground. What the bloody hell had possessed him to snog the Weasley girl in front of the Potions room? He had officially gone mental. The problem wasn't so much what he had done but that—Merlin help him!—he wanted to do it again.

Footsteps were fast approaching and Draco looked up to see the Marauders ambling their way towards class. They were sleepily joking back-and-forth but Sirius had a rather peculiar expression on his face. His head was tilted to the side as his eyes flickered back and forth between Draco and Ginny, studying them.

"Well, well," Sirius drawled, slowly sauntering towards the pair with his hands in his trouser pockets. "Now, isn't this—"

"Not a word, Black," Draco interrupted with a raised hand before storming past the bewildered fifth-years and leaving a blushing Ginny behind. "Not. A. Word."


	9. Put Your Frock On and Shut It

Put Your Frock On and Shut It

**.**

**.**

"It's time to go home, Miss Weasley," a voice called out through the fog in Ginny's mind.

Startled, she spun around, trying to put a face to the voice. She had been so distracted lately that she couldn't even concentrate on someone who was talking to her.

"It's time to go home, Miss Weasley," Dumbledore repeated.

His rheumatic blue eyes twinkled in the twilight. He extended his arm and brought his long, slender fingers forward, revealing the white-gold chain of a pocket watch.

"Thank you, Headmaster," Ginny whispered, smiling shyly as she held out her hand to take the proffered Time-Turner.

"You're welcome." He winked.

"Don't forget me," a voice drawled lazily from behind, and Ginny turned to see Draco with his hands entrenched in his pockets, sauntering towards her.

"Oh, I wouldn't want to do that." She rolled her eyes. "To leave you here with the Marauders and all your adoring fans."

"My admirers of the past will have to live without me. I must attend to those of the present," he stated smoothly in that low, spine-tingly voice of his.

The corners of his lips curved upwards into the most charming, heart-melting grin. He reached down to pluck the watch from her hand, then he gently placed the long golden chain around both of their necks, forcing them to stand nose-to-nose (well, nose-to-chin in her case). His eyes were smouldering, a dark shade of grey. His gaze was intense and she began to fidget nervously.

Where had Dumbledore gone?

"Don't forget to turn the small dial three times, counter-clockwise, and the large dial twice, clockwise," the headmaster called out to them, having already made his way back towards the school.

How did he move so fast and how could she see him so clearly from the lake?

"Ready, Ginny?" Draco asked, managing to stand even closer to her, fiddling with the dials as Dumbledore had instructed.

She could feel the heat emanating off his body in waves—and her own for that matter. She was beginning to feel light-headed and they hadn't even begun time travelling yet. The scent of his cologne invaded her nostrils and she couldn't think to question why he had called her Ginny instead of Weasley. He never called her by her first name. She wasn't even sure if he knew her first name.

"I..." She paused and swallowed hard. "Yes, I'm ready. Let's go home."

Draco let go of the Time-Turner, allowing it to dangle between them. He looked down at her and smiled, a small dimple forming in his right cheek. She had never seen him smile before, genuinely smile. He was so devastatingly handsome when he did that, and she cursed herself for thinking that.

"We can't go yet," he said, and her eyes grew wide. His smile only intensified with her shock. "We have one last thing to do."

She knitted her brow in confusion. Professor Dumbledore had not left them any other instruction. What else did they need to do in order to go home?

"What do we have to do?"

"This."

Draco cupped her cheeks with his pale hands. The lips that descended on hers were cool at first, but heated the moment the inner part of his bottom lip met with her top. A familiar electricity ignited within her as his thumbs circled her cheeks, keeping rhythm with the hot tongue that darted past her lips.

She hadn't even realised he had inadvertently drawn all the air from her lungs until he let go and stood back, allowing her to breathe once more. Her eyelashes languidly fluttered open to reveal spots of light that burst in front of her vision like falling stars. She was more light-headed now than she had been before.

"Draco?" she whispered in awe, her vision finally coming into focus.

"Draco?" a man repeated with open contempt, suddenly holding her back with strong arms, causing her to stumble backwards in his embrace.

She looked up. He had the same eyes, the same colour of hair, but it was long. No! It was no longer short, tousled and perfect. It wasn't... _him_.

"Lucius?" Ginny gasped.

What was she doing with him? She was supposed to be going back to her time with Draco, not his father.

Ginny twisted out of his grasp and fell forward onto her hands and knees, causing the chain around her neck to snap in two.

"Gin, please, let me help you up," a soft voice offered, and Ginny began to tremble as she turned herself over onto her back, meeting green eyes instead of grey.

"Harry?" Tears welled up in her eyes, sliding down her cheeks.

What was going on?

Harry, with his unkempt brown hair and deep green eyes, was looking down at her with such sympathy. His hand was still outstretched, waiting for her to take it.

"I wouldn't offer if I were you," a voice said from behind, and Ginny turned to see Lucius looming over her. "She'll only let you help her up so that she can go waltzing off into the arms of another."

"That's not true!" she cried feebly, rising back up onto her knees.

"No?" another voice asked, and this time she saw Draco shoving his fists into his pockets. "You hopped from Potter to my father and now to me." His eyes darkened. "Ginny, when will this dance ever end?"

She hung her head in defeat, and that's when the Time-Turner began to spin in place.

"You have to choose," Draco said, with Lucius on his right and Harry on his left. "Which one of us are you going to take back with you, Ginny?"

The Time-Turner began to hum loudly now, spinning wildly out of control. Ginny closed her eyes and put her hands over her ears and began to scream. She screamed until she could no longer hear the sound of her own voice, could no longer hear the echoes of her own mistakes.

Ginny woke up in a cold sweat, clutching at the bedsheets. She brought a hand to her fast beating heart and sighed. It was all just a dream, a nightmare.

But it wasn't just that, was it? It was her conscience, her guilty conscience revealing her sins.

She sat up in bed and brought her knees to her chest, hugging them tightly. She glanced up at the clock to see that it was only noon. Earlier that morning she had reported to Professor Slughorn that she was too ill to attend classes and had gone directly to her room to sleep. She just couldn't bear the thought of being in the same room with Draco Malfoy. She had kissed him in front of the Potions room! He hadn't tricked her and it wasn't an accident. In fact, she had provoked him. She had _wanted_ to kiss him.

What was wrong with her? She was a Gryffindor. She was supposed to be dating Harry Potter. Since she had come to this time, however, she had done nothing but cheat. She had become selfish and allowed herself to be taken in by her desires. She wanted Lucius Malfoy because he wanted her, and for some reason she thought his was okay.

Ginny knew she was cheating on Harry, but that wasn't the worst part. No, the worst part was knowing how easy it was for her. The worst part was feeling no guilt over what she had done. The worst part was realising that what she thought was love had never been love to begin with.

Her life, like the Time-Turner, was spiralling out of control. But what Ginny Weasley had failed to realise was that she was human, and humans err. And love—love was just trial and error.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Draco paced the length of his room for the umpteenth time that afternoon. He had skipped all of his classes that morning, giving the excuse that he was ill. The truth was he couldn't bring himself to face Ginny again, not after what had happened earlier that morning.

He turned towards his window and curled his hands into fists. He was furious, with Ginny and himself. He had let her take control and seduce him, and he had let his own deranged and irrational pent-up sexual frustrations build up and take hold of him.

He had thought for the briefest of moments that he might have actually begun to like the girl and saw something in her that he had never imagined to find: a kindred spirit. But it was all just hormones talking, or so he thought.

A loud knock sounded on the door and Draco turned, releasing his fists and his anger. He had to rid this girl from his thoughts entirely. She wasn't worth the hassle. She was just a confused girl who didn't know what or _who_ she wanted.

_Forget her._

Draco cleared his throat and smoothed out his vest and trousers before blanking his facial expression completely. "Yes?"

"It's Professor McGonagall, Mr Unglaub. May I enter?"

The Transfiguration professor didn't bother to wait for an answer. She opened the door and promptly stepped inside his room. Hands clasped together, she stood in the threshold and examined him with keen eyes.

"I missed you in class today."

"I'm not feeling well," Draco stated dryly, lying effortlessly.

The old witch arched an eyebrow in scepticism. "Yes, I can see that." She closed the door behind her. "I don't normally give house calls to students."

"I'm honoured to be an exception."

Draco's expression was deadpan and Professor McGonagall's eyebrow twitched. She pursed her lips together with a wry grin and shook her head.

"I heard there was an incident before class, in the dungeons."

Draco rolled his eyes, having an inkling of who might have told her about what had happened. "Black has a tendency to exaggerate."

"It wasn't Mr Black who told me," Professor McGonagall said with formality. "It was the caretaker, Mr Filch."

"Yes, well—" Draco sneered, turning his back to her "—he's not exactly known to paint students in the most positive light."

"Perhaps," she said with a slight shrug of her shoulders, "but he had plenty of positive things to say about Miss Belette."

Draco let out a strangled sound, like he was trying to huff and growl at the same time. "Well, isn't _she_ special?"

Professor McGonagall took in a deep breath. "Look, Mr Unglaub, I'm not here to discuss what happened—"

"Nothing happened!" Draco interjected, his blood boiling. Had the rumour already circulated the entire school?

"Regardless, Mr Unglaub, I'm not here to talk about what may or may not have happened."

Draco folded his arms across his chest. "Then, please, Professor, tell me why you're here."

The old witch unclasped her hands and took a step forward. "You cannot hope to avoid your problems by feigning illness."

Draco opened his mouth to protest. "I—"

"Drago—may I call you Drago?"

Draco gave a curt nod of acceptance before scowling.

"You're an astute young man, full of great potential, but you lock yourself up away from your problems and away from the friends whom surround you."

She gave him a look that was a mixture of exasperation and concern and Draco let out an undignified snort.

"So you came here to give me a pep talk, then?"

Professor McGonagall frowned and shook her head, turning away. "You're in Gryffindor, Drago—act like it." She then opened the door and offered him a thin smile. "Interact with your housemates, be a part of a team. You might even find that you like it here."

"Unlikely," Draco muttered.

He watched the professor leave his room with a frown. She had no idea what kind of problems he had, but it didn't matter because soon his problems would go away. Soon it would all be over. He hoped.

**.**

**.**

**.**

The week leading up to the ball seemed to drag on as though time itself had decided to stand still, which was fitting since time seemed to be spiting on both Draco and Ginny as of late. The two had made it a point to ignore one another during the rest of their stay at Hogwarts, 1975. But neither could pretend to be sick until Dumbledore came to retrieve them. Professor McGonagall had seen to that—well, on Draco's part. She had made it a personal mission to get the cranky blond out of bed and out of his room.

The Head of House had sent numerous owls and even the occasional Howler, which, incidentally, managed to be intercepted by Peter Pettigrew a few times. While Draco was entertained by Peter's ability to simultaneously jump six feet in the air and scream like a little girl, the ex-Slytherin knew he couldn't hide in his room any longer, so he finally relented and went back to class.

Narcissa had been the one to convince Ginny to return to classes; however, the blonde wasn't just concerned for her housemate's welfare. She was also curious why Draco had been absent too. Of course when Draco returned to frequenting the Great Hall, Narcissa's spirits were immediately lifted. Ginny's spirits should have been too, but whenever she saw Draco in class or in the halls she just felt awkward and nervous. It was quite obvious that he was still angry with her—whether it was over her and his father or the kiss she and Draco shared, she wasn't sure.

Ginny's also noted Narcissa's increased interest in Draco, shadowing the brooding blond almost everywhere he went, including the one time she followed him directly into the boys' changing room. The zeal Narcissa put into her stalking efforts was impressive, if not a little unnerving. At the same time it augured well for Ginny's plan because Narcissa's efforts had attracted Lucius's attention, and the tall blond seemed to go out of his way to speak with the younger Slytherin. It also boded ill, as it was quite evident that Narcissa was no longer infatuated with Lucius but with Draco.

Ginny was especially concerned because she felt that time wasn't unfolding as it should. Narcissa was obsessed with Draco, her own son, and Lucius was still fixated with Ginny, who grew colder and colder towards him by the minute. It wasn't that she disliked Lucius. In fact she was still somewhat enamoured with him. But now she had begun to realise that it was purely infatuation and nothing else.

She had hoped that being cold towards him rather than being indifferent or doting would deter him. It had in some ways, as he did appear to be growing quite bored of chasing her, but Lucius wasn't known to give up so easily. Ginny just needed to come up with more ways to drive him away from her and towards Narcissa. She had to make things right for those two, but before she could do that she had to make things right between her and Draco.

Ginny didn't know if Draco was still going to adhere to their plan or not. Whatever the case might be, she still had to talk to him. So Ginny waited outside the Gryffindor boys' changing room, freezing her arse off. She knew that Draco still practised. He often did whatever he could to get out of the Gryffindor Tower—at least that's what she overheard him telling Narcissa one day in the library. After five agonising minutes, the blond finally emerged in his riding cloak with his broom in hand.

"Weasley?"

Draco stopped and stared at Ginny with a frown. The two were alone, save the howling wind and threatening storm clouds. Ginny tried her best to look contrite while Draco tried his best not to snap her neck in half.

"Draco, can we talk?"

"_Draco_ is it now?" He sneered then began picking at the invisible lint on his cloak.

Ginny rolled her eyes, knowing perfectly well that Draco's haughty exterior was a vain attempt to mask his discomfort. They were not so unalike, she and Draco. She, too, would often use anger (instead of arrogance) as a means to deflect her own feelings of guilt or anxiety.

"I'd call you Malfoy but you might assume I have you confused with your father," she quipped, and a tick worked in Draco's jaw.

"Yes, thank you for that." He tried hard not to grind his teeth and set his broom down in the snow, staring pointedly at her. "Well, what is it that you want, Weasley?"

"I..." She paused, nervously fumbling with the clasp on her cloak. "I wanted to apologise."

"For what?" His lips twitched involuntarily. "Are you dating my mother now?"

Ginny let out an exasperated sigh. "No, you git, I—" She stopped herself before she said something that she might regret and exhaled deeply with a sigh. "Look, I just wanted to apologise for everything."

Draco arched an eyebrow. "Everything?"

She nodded. "I'm the reason we're here trapped in this time."

They exchanged an awkward silence, both staring each other down for Merlin knows what purpose. Draco seemed to be searching her eyes for a truth, to see if she was serious in her claim. She met his gaze unwaveringly and he frowned, bringing a gloved hand to his mouth.

"I agree," he said, and Ginny lowered her head in shame.

"I'm sorry."

Draco gripped the neck of the broom tightly and let out a strangled growling noise. "Yes, well I—" he struggled to find the words "—I might have helped a bit with that, with us coming here."

Ginny stood absolutely still, her mouth ajar. Had he just admitted to being partly responsible for their current predicament?

But Draco just stared at her, saying nothing. Noting the peculiar look of shock on her face, he shook his head vehemently and cursed something unintelligible under his breath before striding past her with surprising speed.

"No, wait!" Ginny called out, trying to keep pace with him. "I was going to activate the thing with you there or not."

Draco stopped dead in his tracks. "Why?"

Ginny bumped into him and cried out. She was about to fall back when he turned around and caught her by the arms, steadying her. Once she regained her footing, he abruptly let go.

"What were you planning on doing?"

Ginny wrung her hands. "I-I wanted to go back to the battle at Hogwarts."

"The Battle of Hogwarts?" Draco furrowed his brow and shrugged. "Why? What for?"

Ginny's bottom lip began to tremble. "I wanted to s-save—I-I w-wanted to—"

What courage she had dissolved into tears and she unceremoniously pitched forward into Draco's chest. Alarmed, he caught her and held her, no sure what to do next. It was instinctual to fall onto another for support, but Draco was unaccustomed to such closeness. He didn't know what to do for her, how to make her feel better or make her stop, so he awkwardly patted her on the back.

"Er, there, there, Weasley," he said, holding her small body against his.

He looked away, beyond her, trying to find an invisible spot in the distance to focus on. Just then snow began to fall from the sky, littering the couple's heads. The two stood together, awkwardly embracing each other amid the backdrop of a white blanket of snow. After what seemed like an eternity, Ginny finally drew away.

"I'm sorry," she apologised sheepishly, stepping back. She wiped at her nose with her gloved hands. "I shouldn't have done that."

Draco also took a step back and cleared his throat, looking rather uncomfortable. "Quit apologising," he said, clearly agitated as he dismissed her with a wave of his hand. "It sounds so unnatural coming from you, especially since you're saying it to me."

He tried to offer her grin but it came off as a grimace.

"I'm so—" Ginny stopped herself from apologising and hiccupped back a sob. "I came back to change something for the better in _my_ life but I ended up messing with yours."

"Yes, you did," Draco agreed nonchalantly, and Ginny let out a bitter laugh.

"Thanks," she said, wiping her gloved hand across her nose again.

She glanced up at him with her large round eyes still brimming with tears, looking dreadfully pathetic, and Draco sighed. Women and tears didn't mesh well with him.

"What do you want me to say, Weasley?" Draco picked up his broom and tapped it against his boot before meeting her eyes. "I don't blame you for taking us back into the past. That—" his shoulders sagged in defeat "—that was an accident. As much as you want to place full blame on yourself—and as much as I am _willing_ to let you—it's not entirely your fault."

Ginny opened her mouth and then closed it, unsure of how to respond. She was utterly shocked. Draco had not only lifted part of her guilt for their current predicament but he had also taken on some of it himself. This was not the slimy git she knew from Hogwarts. This Draco Malfoy was farm more human than she ever imagined him to be.

"But you did make some pretty stupid choices when you got here," he added superciliously, and Ginny let out a weak laugh.

"I know," she agreed, silently thanking Draco for being more of what she expected him to be. Right now, she needed normalcy.

"You're bloody well dating my father!" he added, lifting his broom and pointing it at her. "The same bloke who gave you a cursed diary, I might add."

"I know!" Ginny said with a groan, bringing her hands to her face in embarrassment.

"And then you ended up pushing my mother towards me."

Ginny lowered her hands and looked up at him. "Hey, that wasn't my doing!"

Draco brought his broom back down onto the ground and leaned on it. "I thought you were taking full blame for everything."

Ginny scoffed. "Not for the reverse-Oedipus complex," she muttered, glancing up to see Draco scowling at her. "What?"

"Nothing."

He shook his head with a sigh and Ginny's countenance softened. She reached out to touch his shoulder and he flinched, but he did not draw away.

"Malfoy, I want to make things right. I want to fix all of my mistakes with you—fix everything."

Draco knitted his brow in thought. "Everything?" he repeated, sounding both sceptical and hesitant. Hesitant about what, she wasn't sure.

"Yes." She nodded vigorously. "Everything that I've done while I've been here has just been one big mistake."

"I see," he said, dropping his shoulder so that Ginny was forced to remove her hand. "So how do you propose to fix this, Weasley? Plan B?"

"Yes." Ginny stood back and nodded. "I think it's time for Plan B."

Draco tilted his head back and stared up at the white sky. "Weasley—" he let out a laboured sigh, "—you might just be the death of me."

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Evans! Evans!"

"What, Potter?"

The redhead turned and placed a hand on her slender hip, waiting impatiently for his answer. She had just finished getting ready for the ball and was about to exit through the common room when James accosted her.

"Evans, I just wanted to—" He stopped short, suddenly taking in the vision in front of him. "Wow, you look great!"

Lily rolled her eyes and pushed past the bespectacled brunet, smoothing her hands down the bodice of her navy blue dress.

"Where are you going?" James asked, following her, and Lily let out a frustrated sigh.

"I'm going to go meet my date. Now, if you'll excuse me."

James grabbed the redhead by the arm and spun her around. "You're not seriously going with Snape!"

He looked at her with wild eyes and she returned his gaze with a murderous one. Just then the sound of someone clearing his throat broke up the couple's stare down and Lily wrenched her arm free of James's grasp, shooting him a scathing look before she turned to regard her 'saviour'.

"Hey, Drago," Lily said a little more brightly than she normally would have. Okay, a lot more brightly. She must have been relieved by Draco's interruption. "You look good."

That he did. His hair was tousled in a roguish fashion, suiting his formal robes, which were cut in the Durmstrang fashion with a silver fur-lined collar and a jet-black exterior. It was more of a jacket than a robe, really.

Underneath was a formal suit, but unlike anything Draco had ever worn in the past. The suit itself was completely white—a colour he was not used to wearing—and its collar went all the way up his neck. It resembled a soldier's uniform in some ways. Silver buttons lined the jacket all the way up to his throat. It was form-fitting, showing off a slender but toned torso and chest. He was quite fetching indeed, if he should say so himself.

"Of course I do," Draco said, adjusting his collar. He then saw the glint reflecting in the younger woman's eyes and he quickly recovered. "As do you, _Lily_."

The redhead's countenance brightened considerably. This was the first time Draco had ever called her by her first name. It was almost sweet, the way he said it, but she knew he was just being polite. Still, his attitude was much better now than it had been three months ago.

"Ta," she said with a grin, and they both turned towards the portrait door. "You nervous? I hear your date is Narcissa Black."

"Yes, our German heartthrob is taking my cousin to the ball," Sirius said from behind a scowling James, who had given Lily one last pathetic look before heading back to his room. Sirius watched him go with smirk. "Jealous, Evans?"

Lily rolled her eyes at Sirius and gave Draco a sympathetic look. "Have fun, Drago. See you at the ball."

She then disappeared out the portrait door, leaving Sirius and Draco alone.

"Don't get too comfortable tonight, German," Sirius said, clapping Draco hard on the back and making the blond wince. "We've got a surprise for you."

"A surprise?" Draco raised a suspicious eyebrow and Sirius grinned.

"Yeah, it should be a good one." He turned around and went back to his room to get ready for the dance. "See you later tonight."

"Marvellous," Draco said dryly, before straightening his collar again and exiting the portrait door.

He made his way to the Entrance Hall where he was to pick up his mother. Narcissa was already waiting for him, dressed in a white and silver gown with a plunging neckline. Her long blonde hair was done up in curls and piled on top in some sort of intricate updo. Diamonds adorned her ears and neck and she smiled at Draco behind ruby red lips.

"Narcissa, you look radiant," Draco complimented, taking her white-gloved hand in his and delivering a chaste kiss.

He was justifiably uncomfortable doing this but he was raised to be a gentleman and his mother did look pretty.

"Drago, you do go on," Narcissa said with a slight blush that was very becoming. "You look exquisite yourself."

"Thank you." He proffered his arm. "Shall we go?"

The two then made their way to the Great Hall, which was decorated in a winter wonderland theme. Ice sculptures and intricately engraved ice sheets adorned every corner of the Great Hall as large crystal snowflakes hovered in the air. Enchanted snow fell from the ceiling, never quite reaching the students' heads, giving the look of a magical snowstorm.

Once one took in the splendour of the decorations, it was a rather boisterous event with loud music and a multitude of refreshments. While the hall did appear to be partly divided between houses, there was some inter-house mingling. The students, themselves, all looked to be having a grand time—some drinking punch while others danced uninhibited and clumsily on the dance floor. Even Severus attempted some awkward side-stepping motion with his date, Lily, but soon gave up and decided that talking would be best.

Near the refreshment table stood Lucius in an all-black suit. This was somewhat amusing to Draco since his father was the one who often wore white and silver while he wore either black or grey. Now their roles had been reversed. Draco looked at his mother and grimaced. Perhaps it wasn't so much amusing as it was deeply disturbing.

Lucius turned to meet Draco's eyes, and from behind his father out walked Ginny with a drink in hand. Draco couldn't help but take in a sharp gasp of air. The Weasley girl looked stunning. She wore a long silk dress of a metallic green colour that highlighted her eyes. Instead of a plunging neckline, Ginny's dress went all the way up her throat and opened up at the back, down to the swell of her hips. She wore no jewellery and almost no discernible makeup, but what really caught Draco's attention was her hair.

She had somehow manipulated the Glamour Charm to make her hair look red again. It fell down her back in loose waves, shimmering in the lamplights. It was more of a strawberry blonde now, but she almost looked like the girl he knew from back at Hogwarts. All she needed were the freckles. Draco found himself wanting to see those freckles again.

Wait, no he didn't. He shouldn't care what this girl looked like. He was just here to put their stupid bloody plan in motion, nothing else. He quickly averted his gaze, trying to appear indifferent, and turned his attention to the couples on the dance floor.

"Oh, Gin, you look gorgeous." Narcissa walked over to Ginny to give her a hug and peck on both cheeks. "And your hair's red!"

"Thank you, Cissa," Ginny said with a blush, self-consciously touching at her hair. "You look beautiful."

Narcissa smiled elegantly at the compliment and returned to Draco's side. Feeling slightly sick, Draco looked down at his mother and offered her a thin smile.

"Drago," Ginny greeted, offering the cold blond a curt nod before glancing away in discomfort.

"Geneviève," Draco said, and then turned his attention to his father, who had his arm snaked around Ginny's waist. "Malfoy."

"Unglaub," Lucius's grip tightened possessively around Ginny, who had cast her attention to the wall adjacent.

There was an icy pause and Narcissa rolled her eyes at the overt display of testosterone. "Humph! _Boys_."

Draco breathed out through his nose and tried loosen up, allowing his shoulders to relax. He hadn't even noticed that his entire body had tensed the moment Lucius put his arm around Ginny.

"You look enchanting this evening, Narcissa," Lucius said, briefly letting go of Ginny, who let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, Lucius," Narcissa said with a smile and then placed her hand on Draco's arm. "But enough with all these formalities. Come, Drago, let's dance."

Draco nodded and took his mother to the dance floor. The music began to start up and he glanced over Narcissa's shoulder to see Ginny staring at him with a slight frown on her face.

_This had better work, Weasley_, he thought to himself as his mother snuggled into him. His eyes narrowed as he watched his father put his hand around Ginny's waist again. _This had better damn well work!_


	10. Now It's Time to Party

Now It's Time to Party Like It's 1975!

**.**

**.**

Sirius Black hovered near the punchbowl like a bee buzzing at a flower. While he tried his best to look inconspicuous, the rest of the Marauders provided a distraction against the monitoring professors. When the coast was clear, he stealthily retrieved a small silver flask from his inner robes pocket and poured a clear liquid into the mountainous fountain bowl.

"Did you put it in?" James whispered when Sirius strolled up beside him.

"That I did," he said with a grin, winking at Remus and Peter.

James and Peter grinned like a couple of Cheshire cats, rubbing their hands together in glee. Remus, on the other hand, looked somewhat hesitant.

"Are you sure it's safe?" he asked for the third time that night, and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Moony. Prongs and I tested it ourselves."

Remus nodded and let out a shaky sigh, still not looking entirely convinced. Sirius reached over and clasped his mate's shoulder and gave it a squeeze, offering Remus his most charming smile.

"You worry too much, Moony."

"Someone has to."

Sirius shook his head and then directed his attention at James. "So, what are we to do about the German?"

James frowned. "You seriously want him in?"

Sirius took his hand off Remus's shoulder. "Prongs, this was originally _your_ idea."

"Yeah, I know, but—"

Sirius raised his hand. "Look, don't get your knickers in a twist over him and Evans. You're just reading into things, mate."

James grimaced. "But she openly _flirts_ with him."

"Yeah." Sirius rolled his eyes. "In front of you."

James paused to consider this and then gave Sirius a doubtful look. "I guess..."

"German's into my cousin, not Evans," Sirius said with a lazy shrug. "Besides, I think you should be more worried about Snape."

He pointed to Lily and Severus, who were both talking and laughing in the corner. James was about to open his mouth to protest when Sirius put an arm around his best mate and directed his attention away from Lily and towards Draco.

"A few weeks ago we both thought that German was a possible candidate. That hasn't changed now, has it?"

James let out a frustrated sigh and slowly shook his head.

Sirius was wearing James down and he knew it. It was obvious that James considered Draco a friend, but when it came to Lily Evans that boy was irrational—saying and doing the stupidest things to impress her, which often resulted in him alienating the people Lily liked as well as the redhead herself.

"Moony, what do you think?" Sirius turned to the lanky werewolf and Remus thought on the question for a moment.

"He's a little standoffish, but I like him."

"Me too," Peter added meekly.

Sirius turned back to James and offered him a wolfish grin. "The votes are in, Prongs."

James shrugged off Sirius's arm and held up his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright," he agreed, a small smile tugging at his lips. "So how do we know if he's the right one to join?"

"We test him, of course," Sirius replied as a matter-of fact, and Remus looked at him askance.

"What kind of test?"

"A test of courage."

"And how do we do that?" Now it was James's turn to look sceptical, but Sirius merely shrugged.

"The Forbidden Forest."

**.**

**.**

**.**

Ginny rubbed the palm of her hands along the side of her frock—a nervous habit she had acquired since she was a toddler. She wasn't accustomed to wearing dresses, especially gowns as fine as the one she was currently wearing. It made her feel awkward and out of place, and wiping sweaty palms onto silk wasn't exactly the most dignified thing she could do in the company of Lucius Malfoy.

She knew Lucius had noted her nervous apprehension with a mixture of amusement and disdain, but he seemed more intent on observing Draco and Narcissa than how Ginny ruined her frock. Her plan to have Lucius notice Narcissa appeared to be working, but she couldn't be sure whether he was fixated on Narcissa or Draco.

"Zay seem to be 'aving a lot of fun," Ginny said, subtly gauging Lucius's reaction as an imperceptible frown crossed his features.

"Yes, they are." He turned to face her and offered her a handsome smile. "Geneviève, would you care to dance?"

Ginny swallowed hard and feigned an apologetic smile. "Oui, mais je voudrais aller à la salle de bain." She blushed, giving him an awkward curtsey. "Je m'excuse."

Ginny made her way out of the Great Hall, locking eyes with Draco. He whispered something in Narcissa's ear and then excused himself, heading Ginny's way. The redhead glanced back to see if Lucius was watching her and Draco. Instead, the tall blond's attention was fixed on Narcissa, who was making a beeline to the refreshment table to pour herself a glass of punch.

"Was Father watching us dance?" Draco asked as soon as he met Ginny outside the large steel and wood doors.

"Intently, but I think that we need to step it up a notch." Ginny wrung her hands nervously and glanced furtively about the deserted hallway. "You need to be more, uh, touchy-feely."

Draco blanched. "That's disgusting, Weasley. You do recall that she's my mother, yes?"

"Yes, yes." Ginny waved her hand dismissively. "But you can't just assume that Lucius will pursue your mother once we're gone." She glanced up at him in earnest. "We have to make sure they fall in love."

Draco let out an annoyed sigh and pinched the nerve at the bridge of his nose. "I can't very well start groping someone in the middle of a dance floor." He dropped his hand and looked directly at her. "A chaperoned one at that."

Ginny cursed under her breath, knowing full-well that he was correct. A professor would put a stop to any such fraternising before Lucius could even begin to react. She folded her arms beneath her breasts and turned, glancing past the Entrance Hall and out towards the grounds. A light suddenly went off above her head (figuratively, of course).

"You'd be uninhibited outside," she said slowly, turning to face him.

"What?"

"If you were to take Narcissa outside, flirt with her and, I dunno, put your _moves_ on her, I could bring Lucius out at the most opportune time and have him stop you."

"Put my _moves_ on her?" Draco repeated, suddenly looking very ill.

"I'll have Lucius out there before anything—" she pantomimed something rather vulgar with her hands "—like _that_ happens."

Draco leaned back against the wall and put a hand to his stomach. "Thanks, Weasley, I'm properly reassured now."

Ginny shook her head. "It'll work, Malfoy. When I see you both leave I'll wait one minute before I convince Lucius to follow me outside."

"Where to?"

"The East wing."

He grimaced.

Ginny gave a determined nod and smoothed out her frock before going back inside. Draco remained outside the doorway for a bit, not wanting to enter the same time as Ginny as it would look conspicuous.

Ginny spied Lucius and Narcissa at the refreshment table and walked towards them. Both were talking animatedly—well, Narcissa was. Lucius appeared to be just occasionally nodding while Cissa blathered on.

"I'd like a devilled egg," Narcissa announced, pouring herself yet another drink. "I'm absolutely famished." She turned to face Lucius and stared at him pointedly until the tall blond raised a questioning eyebrow. "Lucius, I'm going to go nick a devilled egg from the—from the..." She tried to think of the name for the snack table but decided to forgo searching the recesses of her brain for such a word. "Would you like one?"

Lucius shook his head. "I'm afraid I'm not partial to eggs."

Narcissa drained her glass and narrowed her ice blue eyes, appraising the blond as though he was being deliberately obtuse. "Why not?"

Lucius, unaffected by her critical eye, lazily shrugged. "They're just farts clothed in sustenance."

Narcissa let out an unattractive peal of laughter at this and swatted at the blond's arm. Lucius didn't withdraw from her touch but he did seem to be conflicted with several emotions: mainly amusement and confusion. As Narcissa continued to cackle, Ginny finally approached the two, smiling brightly. Cissa stopped talking and greeted the redhead by kissing her on the cheek.

"Gin, my love, I'm having such a grand time. Aren't you having a grand time? _I_ am." She let out another peal of laughter and elbowed Lucius not-so-elegantly in the ribs. "Don't you just love her hair red? It's so plebeian, but in a _good_ way, you know?"

Narcissa then abruptly stopped talking and walked over to the punch bowl to refill her glass. Ginny knitted her brow in confusion and looked to Lucius for an explanation of Narcissa's behaviour. He merely raised his pale eyebrows and shrugged.

"Gin, here." Narcissa handed Ginny a drink, most of which slopped onto her hand. "Whoops." Narcissa giggled. "This punch is just delish! Go on, have a bit!"

Ginny shook the sticky liquid off her hand and Lucius handed her a white handkerchief from his breast pocket. As Ginny tried to dab the punch off her arm, Draco strode up beside her and Narcissa practically launched herself at him.

"Drago, I missed you!" She snuggled into his chest and then jumped to attention when the band began to play again. "Oh, I love this song!" she announced, dragging Draco towards the middle of the floor. "This song's all about _me_!"

Draco quickly glanced at Ginny before turning to regard his mother. "Narcissa, uh, perhaps you would rather accompany me on a stroll outside?"

Narcissa stopped walking and turned to face Draco, giving him a big, cheesy grin—something rather foreign-looking on the otherwise regal blonde.

"Of course, Drago," she replied dreamily and then hiccupped. "I'd love to."

**.**

**.**

**.**

The forest east of the castle was thick with trees: beech, oak, pine, sycamore and yew. Each tree, young and old, had its own tale to tell. And if this forest could speak, it would whisper warnings to those foolish enough to enter.

During the day the woods were the epitome of serene majesty. Its numerous crystal-clear brooks babbled over limestone and quartz; each filled with minnows and tadpoles that feebly tried to eke out an existence in the cool waters and pebbled shores. Even the canopy of trees overhead could not camouflage the beauty within, as wildflowers blanketed every clearing with its aroma.

At night, however, the forest took on an entirely different image: one of menace and danger. In this vast, dense thicket, where paths lined with knotgrass stretched for kilometres, those who dared to travel down it always took the wide trail. Off this main path the way was almost impassable, although witches and wizards had managed to move through it, as well as creatures large and small. But if you didn't know what to expect or how to handle yourself, you were as good as dead.

"Padfoot, we shouldn't have come this far," Peter whined, cowering behind the taller Marauder in lead.

"Relax, Wormtail."

"I agree with Peter," Remus said somewhat nervously, although not nearly as nervously as Peter. "Besides, what are we going to get out here to test Drago's courage?"

Sirius turned to face his three mates, who each had their glowing wands held high.

"I'm going to Transfigure into a dog and pretend to attack Prongs here." Sirius pointed to James. "You and Wormtail will go fetch German and tell him that Prongs—James—is in danger and that you need his help."

James nodded as if this was a feasible plan, but Remus wasn't convinced.

"What if he just gets one of the professors?"

James and Sirius exchanged glances.

"Uh, tell him that we'd all get in trouble for being in the Forbidden Forest anyway. We'd get expelled if caught," James said, and Remus lifted a sceptical eyebrow.

"Okay..."

Remus was still unconvinced but the pleading looks from his two best mates finally made the lanky teen relent, and he agreed to go back to the castle.

"Hey, uh, Padfoot?" Peter asked, his boots crunching in the light snow.

"Yeah?"

"We're off the path."

Sirius furrowed his brow in annoyance. "So?"

"So, I don't know what's in the forest this far back," he said meekly, and James put a hand on Peter's shoulder.

"There's nothing dangerous out here except centaurs, and they won't hurt us. Besides, their lair is along one of the eastern paths."

"I don't like this," Remus said, his eyes flitting back and forth, scanning the treetops.

"Moony, quit being such a—" Sirius paused mid-sentence, noting the eerie silence that filled the forest.

There were no sounds at all—no birds, no wolves, no nothing. It was never this quiet. The silence was soon shattered by the sound of snapping branches.

"W-what was that?" Peter stuttered, glancing about furtively.

"Bloody hell!"

In the light of the half-moon was the gleam of several glittering eyes. At first none of the boys knew what to think. It was unusual to see so many eyes, especially hovering some three feet off the ground. Suddenly the creature stepped out of the denseness of the forest, creeping along the trees with long hairy legs almost five feet in length.

"It's an Acromantula," Remus whispered, gripping Peter's arm and slowly drawing the smaller boy behind him.

The spider stalked towards them and the boys raised their wands defensively. The creature stopped, examining them with many beady eyes.

"We mean you no harm," James said, slowly backing up with Sirius as they all formed a tight ring. "We were just lost. We'll be on our way now."

"Why are you talking to it?" Peter hissed, raising his wand at the spider before Remus stopped him.

"They're capable of human speech, just like us," he informed Peter, who slowly lowered his weapon.

The spider stood motionless in front of them. It watched them all with its many beady eyes with a sort of hungry intensity that bordered on curiosity.

"Yes, so maybe we can reason with it—him, her?" James looked to the spider for an answer but it just continued to stare at them.

"I don't think this one can talk. It might be a baby," Remus offered, and the other three boys blanched.

"_That's_ a baby?"

"Yes, he is one of _my_ babies," a voice hissed from behind.

The boys turned around to see a much larger spider, at least seven feet in height with a legspan of fifteen feet. All four Marauders gulped in unison.

"Who are you?" Sirius asked, dumbstruck.

"I am Mosag, queen of the Acromantulas," the beast replied, raising herself up to full height, which was quite considerable and intimidating.

James briefly looked to Remus for assurance and then turned back to address the spider. "We just want to return to the castle. We meant no harm."

Mosag stood some twenty feet from them but she appeared to be _much_ closer to the naked eye. Her gaze was not one of curiosity, but of anger and hunger.

"Harm will come to you," she promised, taking a large step forward. "My babies are hungry, and so am I."

The boys drew in tighter and James whipped his head around to whisper to Remus.

"Moony, what do these things fear?"

"Basilisks?"

A multitude of curses erupted from each boy's lips.

"Why don't we just Transfigure and make a break for it back to the castle?" Sirius suggested, and James shook his head.

"No, it's not full moon yet, and Moony isn't an Animagus."

Sirius cursed again and gripped his wand tightly. "Then what? We can't stand here whispering to one another while these two things prepare to eat us."

"Okay, we all make a break for the castle. Padfoot, Moony and I will stun the mum." James locked eyes with Peter. "Wormtail, you'll immobilise the baby."

They all nodded in understanding.

"On three."

All four shifted around so that Peter was facing the baby and the other three were in front of Mosag. The female Acromantula seemed to sense that something was up and she began to stalk towards them.

"Three!" James yelled, raising his wand at the large female.

The three boys cast a slew of curses Mosag's way, temporarily blinding and impairing her. Peter did the same with the baby, sending it squealing backwards.

"Run, run, RUN!" Sirius shouted, directing another curse at Mosag before turning around.

All four boys then took off towards the castle, thinking that they had impaired the spiders to the point of dissuading them from pursuit. They couldn't possibly have been any more wrong.

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Sev, you might want to go easy on that punch," Lily cautioned, watching as Severus poured himself a fourth glass.

"Why?" he slurred, slightly cross-eyed.

"I think Potter and Black have spiked it."

Severus scoffed and threw back the punch. "Well, I think they've wasted their galleons because I can't taste a thing." He smacked his lips and poured himself yet another drink. "Nope, nothing."

Lily couldn't help but grin mischievously at her dear and clueless friend.

"What?" Severus asked, noting the peculiar look Lily was giving him as he took a sip. "I haven't been affected at all, I..." He paused and turned around, looking about the Great Hall in a drunken stupor. "Wait—" his eyes widened and he reached out to grab Lily's hand "—w-why are we on a tropical isle?"

The redhead laughed aloud and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "C'mon, Sev, let's see if Slughorn has a remedy for the unbelievable hangover you're likely to incur tomorrow morning."

Lily then dragged a stunned Severus past Ginny, who almost spit out her drink when she overheard what the younger Gryffindor had said. She looked up at Lucius, who was standing beside her.

"The punch is spiked," Ginny whispered, and Lucius nodded.

"And Narcissa is alone with Unglaub." He set down his own drink. "Stay here and I'll go get her."

Ginny nodded and watched him leave, setting down her glass. She suddenly felt very nauseated. Narcissa was drunk and alone with Draco and Lucius was going to retrieve her.

Wait.

Lucius was going to go get Narcissa?

Oh no! He would see Draco and Narcissa in a compromising position—and not like how Draco and Ginny had planned. Lucius would assume Draco purposely got Narcissa drunk in order to take advantage of her because Draco was friends with the Marauders, who were the ones who had spiked the punch. No, no, no! Lucius was going to hex Draco into oblivion. She had to stop this, now!

Ginny kicked off her heels and ran barefoot through the Great Hall and onto the grounds, ignoring the professors who yelled at her to stop running. She pushed her way out the doors and headed east, stopping only to lift her dress and retrieve her wand from the holster she had attached to her thigh. She finally made her way towards the forest where she heard raised voices and she rushed towards the sound.

"What were you doing with her, Unglaub?" Lucius had his wand trained on Draco, who was standing in front of a dishevelled and sickly-looking Narcissa.

Draco opened his mouth to unleash a scathing retort when he spotted Ginny standing on top of the hill just behind his father.

"He was holding my hair while I was vomiting near this lovely tree here, Lucius," Narcissa said, bent over and pointing at a patch of gooey liquid that had melted through the snow. "Now _lower_ that wand."

Lucius heard the unmistakable threat in her voice and saw the steely determination flicker in her ice blue eyes. He hesitated for only moment and then did as she asked. Grimacing, Lucius sheathed his wand and eyed Draco warily.

"Was it your intention to spike the punch so that you could take advantage of Narcissa?"

Draco raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Pardon me?"

Narcissa creased her brow and looked up at Draco.

"You heard me!" Lucius spat. "You had your little underlings poison the punch."

"I did no such thing." Draco crossed his arms over his chest and all but glowered at his father. "Those morons do what they like. I don't control them."

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

"Indeed."

Draco and Lucius continued to stare each other down until Narcissa once more emptied the contents of her stomach onto the ground.

"Could you boys perhaps exchange your monosyllabic expressions of arrogance someplace else?" she asked weakly, searching for a dry patch of grass in between the snow to sit down on.

Ginny holstered her wand and walked down to where Narcissa was, feeling the snow melt between her toes. She dismissively waved Draco and Lucius off and both amazingly complied. She then began to rub Narcissa's back, letting the blonde lean onto her for support.

"Gin, I don't feel so good."

"I know, Cissa," Ginny cooed empathetically, although her feet were beginning to freeze. "Let's get you into your nice, warm bed."

She then lifted the blonde up to support her and began to escort her back towards the castle. Draco and Lucius were about to join them when their attention was diverted to the sound of snow crunching underneath heavy boots. The two boys exchanged glances and then stared into the forest from where the noise of hurried footsteps came. Then there followed a cacophony of sounds—of breaking branches and yelping noises of pain. Suddenly Sirius and James broke through the bushes and ran past Lucius and Draco.

"Drago, Malfoy—_run_!"

Not too far behind them were Remus and Peter, who were wheezing and panting, looking utterly terrified.

"What in the name of Circe was that?" Lucius asked, watching the four teenagers blur past him up the snowy slope.

"Morons," Draco muttered before directing his attention back towards the forest line. "What I want to know is what they were running from."

A blood-curdling squeal pierced the night sky and a large blur of black contrasting against the white snow seemed to explode from the forest. The two teenagers stumbled back in astonishment as a baby Acromantula came crashing out of the woods, disoriented and angry and heading straight for the girls.

Used to danger, Ginny reacted instinctively and pushed Narcissa out of the way just as the spider lunged forward and knocked the redhead to the ground. Ginny pushed up onto her hands and spat out a disgusting wad of snow and mud. She rolled over onto her back and grabbed the hem of her silk dress, and with one fluid motion she ripped it all the way up the side of her thigh and freed her wand from its holster.

With a fury only someone like Ginny Weasley could muster, the redhead jumped back up to her feet and began hexing the beast that had now begun to advance on her friend. The baby Acromantula was more frightened than anything, but Ginny didn't know this. Instead, she launched numerous spells at the spider, which it dodged with uncanny agility.

Without a wand, Narcissa couldn't do anything but stay out of Ginny's way. She called out for Draco and Lucius, who both rushed over to the girls with their wands drawn. The two advanced on the spider, blasting it with spells that sent it reeling backwards, clutching pathetically at a wounded leg. It may have been hurt but it wasn't out of the fight. It still swiped at the teenagers with ferocious intensity.

Ginny parried artfully with the beast as Draco leapt over to her side, trying to stun the thing back into the forest. Just as it looked as though the spider was about to flee back into the woods, a sharp scream pierced their concentration and both teenagers were forced to turn their heads and look behind them.

There stood a monstrous seven-foot tall Acromantula. It was staring down at a frightened Narcissa, who was trying to crawl her way backwards up the hill towards the castle.

"Go help her! I've got this one!" Ginny yelled at Draco, who nodded in thanks.

The moment Draco swivelled around, however, something unexpected happened. His father had run behind the spider and stunned it!

"Help Geneviève!" Lucius ordered Draco as he began to immobilise and bind the enormous beast.

Lucius then went over to where Narcissa sat. He knelt down and picked her up. She clung to the tall blond like a drowning victim to a life preserver.

Relieved that his father had so quickly incapacitated the largest spider, Draco turned back around to help Ginny. He watched, in horror, as the redhead sailed past him in the air, hitting the ground with a sickening thud.

"Weasley!" he yelled, sprinting to her side.

She slowly sat up and began rubbing her head. "I'm fine," she said and then looked up at him with wide eyes, pointing a finger past him. "Malfoy, behind you!"

Draco turned, as if in slow motion, only to have a long, hairy spider leg kick his wand out of his hand and throw him back against a tree with another. With the wind knocked out of him, Draco feebly tried to stand to his feet but the black spider wasted no time and shot a thick web at him, moulding him to the trunk of the tree.

The beast then squawked at its mother—a horribly frightful and wretched sound. When Mosag didn't reply, the smaller spider let out a frustrated cry and scuttled towards Draco with lightning speed. It menacingly snapped its pincers at him, ready to bite.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Ginny yelled from behind the spider.

The Acromantula froze, its pinches only inches away from Draco's neck. Draco looked past the horrible thing to see Ginny standing beyond him. Her fiery red hair was hanging in front of her green eyes and her pale skin was smeared with mud. She was breathing heavily, and smirking.

"That makes two, Malfoy," she said, referring to the second time she'd saved him.

Draco could only roll his eyes as she levitated the spider away and began to bind it. Since when was Ginny Weasley such a pompous prat? And where did she learn to smirk like that?

"Just get me out of this," he ordered, struggling to get out of his suit of webbing.

Lowering the spidering to the ground, Ginny began zapping away at the thick web that bound Draco. While she tried to free him with magic, Draco tried to release himself from the sticky bonds, twisting and turning yet never taking his eyes off the spider. He was prepared to warn Ginny should it ever break free from her spell.

"Lucius, Narcissa—are you both okay?" Ginny asked breathlessly as she pulled another piece of web off Draco.

Lucius nodded, still keeping his wand trained on Mosag, who stood silently in her bonds, not even bothering to struggle. She seemed to be assessing the entire situation with her many beady eyes.

"Narcissa, I need you to run back into the castle and get help," Lucius ordered.

Narcissa began her assent up the hill but slipped, twisting her ankle in the wet snow. Lucius turned around and bent down to help her and, with his attention diverted, Mosag acted quickly, using the distraction to her advantage. What Lucius didn't know was that the only way to properly restrain an Acromantula was to petrify it, like Ginny had done. Without being fully immobilised, the spider could still shoot venom at its victim.

Mosag did just that and sprayed her toxic venom onto Lucius's back. The Slytherin let out a grunt and fell forward onto Narcissa, who tried to hold the blond up with trembling arms. Lucius had taken the brunt of the toxic venom, which, in females, was acid-like in quality. It ate through his robes as if they were wet tissue paper, leaving him incapacitated. With Lucius half unconscious, Mosag was able to break free from her bonds and advance on the two Slytherins.

Narcissa let out a short cry and fumbled for Lucius's wand, retrieving it from his limp hand. She pointed it at Mosag.

"Impedimenta!" she cried and then threw several more curses the spider's way.

Mosag stumbled backwards, stunned. Narcissa used this moment of distraction to direct her wand at Lucius's back, trying her best to quickly counter-act the venom that threatened to poison his system. The wand trembled in her hand but she fought back the terror. With this much corrosive venom in his system, Lucius would surely die within minutes if she didn't quickly heal him.

Enraged, Mosag let out a strangled sort of scream and charged towards the distracted Narcissa. Before the spider could attack, however, Ginny ran out in front and threw a Petrificus Totalus at the Acromantula, but Mosag nimbly side-stepped the spell and turned around to face the redhead—her real threat. Steadying her wand, Ginny prepared herself as Mosag lunged. Ginny managed to dive out of the way in time while launching a spell at the beast, which it effortlessly deflected with a powerful limb.

Powerless to assist, Draco struggled in his bonds, using all of his might to free himself. He watched helplessly as Ginny tried to fight the large spider on her own while still keeping her concentration fixed on the smaller one and keeping it bound. Draco's determination to break free was intensified when he saw Mosag's large limb connect with Ginny's face, sending the redhead reeling backwards.

Mustering strength from every muscle in his body, Draco let out a brutal cry and finally managed to snap off the last of his bonds. He leapt forward, searching for his wand in the snow. Before he could retrieve it he saw Mosag lunge at Ginny with her pincers and he acted on pure instinct, tackling the redhead to the ground and shielding her body with his own.

Ginny fell to the ground with Draco on top of her. She felt something slice into her back, like the tip of a knife, and a sudden weight was lifted from her body. She rolled over to witness a macabre scene above her: Draco hovering silently in the air with one of the spider's pincers bayoneted through his stomach. She opened her mouth in shock and extended a bloodied hand to his, which dangled limply in front of her face. His grey eyes were paled and clouded over. Blood pooled onto his lower lip and fell, streaming down onto her face.

Suddenly, he was no longer floating above her but flying through the air—his lifeless body connecting with a large oak tree. A blood-curdling scream pierced her ears and Ginny winced. It was only after feeling her throat chafe with each swallow she took that she realised the screaming had come from her.

"Draco!"

Her vision was dimming and her eyes threatened to roll into the back of her head. She tried to focus on Draco's prone body but the second hit to her head was too much. She watched as the gigantic spider stalked towards her now, and her eyelids began to droop shut.

"Gin!" Narcissa screamed, seeing both her friends lying unconscious in the snow, and Lucius shakily rose to his feet, taking his wand from Narcissa.

"Get help."

Narcissa immediately did as ordered and Lucius turned to aim his wand at Mosag, but she was far from intimidated. She towered above her prey in victory.

"Get back into the forest before I kill you," he threatened, taking a steady step forward.

"You wouldn't dare use the Killing Curse," Mosag said, eyeing Lucius somewhat warily now, ignoring her unconscious quarry.

"Oh, wouldn't I?" He offered her a cruel sneer as a small stream of blood trickled down his temple. "Avada—"

Before he could finish the curse, something the size of a grapefruit hit the spider square in one of her eyes, squishing it into a disgusting paste. Mosag staggered backwards, screaming in agony and holding onto her damaged eye with her front legs.

Lucius turned to see where the stone was thrown from. Standing not some five feet from him was Argus Filch.

"Don't look at me!" the caretaker yelled, pointing at the retreating spider. "Petrify and bind the damn thing!"

**.**

**.**

**.**

Professor McGonagall had escorted all four students to the hospital wing. Luckily Filch had spotted the Marauders running into the castle and caught the tall, gangly one by the scruff of the neck and asked him what they were running from. After the student gave him a breathless answer, Filch ordered the boy to go fetch a professor from the Great Hall while he headed outside.

Argus Filch, a Squib, had managed to save all four teenagers and ordered Lucius to petrify the largest Acromantula, temporarily incapacitating it. Shortly after, Professor McGonagall came running out and properly bound both spiders and sent them back into the forest. She ordered Filch to go fetch Hagrid so that he could have a palaver with the Acromantulas and have the entire mess sorted out.

At the infirmary Lucius was treated for his wounds, which were luckily nothing serious due to Narcissa's quick and efficient wandwork. Draco's stomach wound was completely healed and Madam Pomfrey had removed all traces of venom from his system. The blond also endured a few broken ribs, which were remedied with Skele-Gro. Ginny, on the other hand, suffered a mild concussion and some minor cuts and bruises.

Both teenagers woke up an hour later in their separate hospital beds with Lucius and Narcissa nowhere in sight. The two sat up and regarded each other with tired curiosity.

"I feel like I've been mauled by a Hippogriff," Ginny said with a groan before turning back her covers and stepping out of bed.

"You look it," Draco agreed with smirk, and the redhead scowled.

"Where are Lucius and Narcissa?" Ginny swayed slightly on her feet and shivered, hugging her small frame to bring some warmth back into it.

"I dunno."

Draco walked over to where Ginny stood teetering on her feet and helped steady her. He then took off his jacket and draped it around her trembling shoulders. Ginny looked up at him with thanks and he opened the door, leading them both out of the empty infirmary into the equally empty hall.

They both managed to limp their way down to the Great Hall. The ball, for the most part, was over. A few people stalked the corners, including Lily and Severus. The Marauders were there too, taking in the two dishevelled teenagers with a mixture of curiosity and relief. Only three couples remained on the dance floor—one of those couples being Draco's parents.

Ginny elbowed Draco's ribs, eliciting a glare from the blond.

"Sorry," she muttered and then pointed to his parents. "Look, they're dancing."

Draco rubbed at his tender ribs, watching as his parents danced and laughed, and a small smile flitted across his lips. Then he caught his mother's eye. She stopped dancing and stood up on her toes to whisper something in his father's ear. Lucius glanced over at both Draco and Ginny and he and Narcissa began to walk towards them.

"I'm glad you two are all right," Narcissa said, giving Ginny a warm hug before drawing back and smiling awkwardly at Draco. "Madam Pomfrey said that the both of you would be unconscious for a few hours, so we decided to go back to our rooms and get changed. We were going to come straight back up, but Lucius convinced me to have another dance."

A faint blush crossed her cheeks and Ginny smiled brightly.

"Zat iz good. You two look ver-ee good together."

"Thank you," Lucius drawled. "So do you two."

Draco glanced down at his torn outfit and then turned to take in the sight of Ginny in her ripped green dress and his mud-stained jacket. They were both covered in dirt and dried blood. Draco grimaced. He could always count on his father for backhanded compliments.

"Enjoy your evening," Lucius said with a slight smirk before offering Narcissa his arm. "À bientôt, Geneviève." He offered Ginny a courteous smile and then gave a curt nod to Draco. "Unglaub."

Narcissa took Lucius's arm and the two returned to the dance floor, ignoring Draco and Ginny entirely. As the two blonds waltzed elegantly to the slow tempo music, Ginny watched the couple rather intently with a frown on her face. She then turned to regard Draco, examining him closely.

Draco knitted his brow and gave Ginny an exasperated look. "Weasley, _what_ are you looking at?"

"Just checking to see if you're going invisible," she explained nonchalantly, still observing him in case any part of him should start to disappear.

"Okay..." He paused, confused, and then cleared his throat. "Weasley, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Draco was not convinced. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her pointedly. After a moment she began to fidget under his gaze and then finally glanced up at him, letting out a dramatic sigh.

"It's just—" she pouted "—they need to kiss."

Draco was about to open his mouth to reply when he felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder from behind.

"Drago?"

He turned around, coming face-to-face with Remus Lupin. Draco frowned at the lanky fifth-year, who was looked rather contrite.

"Drago, I'm sorry about what happened tonight."

"Zat was all because of _you_—you and zee Marauders?" Ginny asked, flabbergasted and then suddenly very livid.

Remus's eyes widened in shock and apprehension. "How did you—"

"Answer the question!" Draco snapped, and Remus did a double take before swallowing hard.

"Yes, it was our fault—James, Sirius, Peter and myself."

"Mais why?" Ginny asked, and Draco exhaled loudly.

"So that was the surprise that Black had in store for me?"

Remus violently shook his head. "No, no! We never meant to get so close to the Acromantulas' lair. We had no idea such things even lived in the forest." He looked lost. "I mean Acromantulas are from Borneo, not England!"

Draco and Ginny exchanged glances. They both knew of the spiders. They had seen one at the Triwizard Cup and too many to count at the Battle of Hogwarts.

"Mais, why were you out in zee forest to begin with?"

Remus let out a protracted sigh. "It was a test of courage for Drago—to initiate him into the Marauders."

"A test of courage?" Draco looked doubtful. "Pitting me against Acromantulas?"

"No, Peter and I were to come get you to help us 'rescue' James, who was being 'attacked' by a dog," Remus explained with many finger quotes, and Draco looked even more confused than ever.

"A dog?"

"Yes, a wild dog."

Draco then glanced over at Ginny, who didn't look at all puzzled by Remus's story. He shook his head and sighed. Gryffindors are just plain mental.

"But that plan was shot when the spiders attacked us," Remus added. "We just ran. We had no idea they'd follow us out of the forest." He then directed his attention to Ginny. "We didn't even see you and Narcissa Black."

Ginny crossed her arms over her chest, looking rather unimpressed. "Zat was reckless."

Remus hung his head in shame. "I'm sorry." He looked up at Draco, who was staring at the wall, scowling.

Ginny saw the look on Draco's face and knew that the blond was not going to accept Remus's apology, so she unfolded her arms and offered the lanky Gryffindor a weak smile.

"Zank you for telling us, Remus, but I zink you 'ad best go join your friends now," she said as politely as she could.

Remus cast another pathetic look Draco's way and then slunk back to his mates. It was then that Lily and Severus walked over, exchanging words with each other before finally approaching the two older students.

"What is this—question period?" Draco looked at Ginny, who merely shrugged.

"We heard through the grapevine that you two were out near the Forbidden Forest." Lily glanced about the room and leaned in close to whisper, "We, uh, heard you fought an Acromantula."

"_Acromantulas_," Draco corrected in a normal, if not carrying voice. "Plural."

The look on his face was nothing short of smug and Ginny couldn't help but roll her eyes. Lily and Severus, on the other hand, exchanged curious glances. Lily appeared impressed while Severus just shook his head, looking bored and uninterested.

"Wow, so you both fought _two_ Acromantulas?" There was a definite hint of awe in Lily's voice as she looked back and forth between Draco to Ginny. "It would have taken three of me to _defend_ myself against a third of one of them—and that's _only_ if attacked me with its arse."

Ginny openly laughed this and Lily giggled with her.

"They have arses?" Severus asked facetiously, and Lily punched him in the arm.

"You catch my drift," she said haughtily.

"Seldom, if ever," he returned with a sneer, rubbing at his arm.

"Yeah, yeah." Lily rolled her eyes. "Well, 'grats on that. This incident will be talked about for years to come." After a moment, she furrowed her brow. "I still wonder why they were there to begin with. I mean I had heard rumours but I always thought they were perpetuated by the professors in order to keep us out of the forest."

"Well, it will definitely work now—keeping us out, that is," Severus said with a sniff and Lily nodded in agreement.

"I'm curious why they came out of the forest at all. That's so unusual. I wonder what provoked them."

Severus blatantly gaped at the redhead. "You honestly wonder how Acromantulas were lured out of the Forbidden Forest?" he asked, glancing in the Marauders' direction.

Lily followed his gaze with a frown. "Potter and Black? Why would they do that?"

"Why would they spike the punch?" he asked irritably, and then the two had a heated row about the maturity level of Gryffindors.

Draco and Ginny looked at each other and quickly excused themselves from the fifth-years' conversation. They walked over to the door of the Great Hall and stood just inside the room.

"What a night," Ginny said, sighing tiredly as she rested her head against the door.

"Well, at least my parents are together," Draco said, watching them dance. "You didn't muck _everything_ up, Weasley."

"No, I guess I didn't." Ginny glanced up at Draco with a smirk. "I even managed to save your life again."

Draco scowled. "You weren't the only one saving others tonight," he said, rubbing his tender ribs for emphasis.

"Right." Ginny nodded, trying to appear as serious as possible. "You know, they say if you save a person's life, you're indebted to that person for the rest of your life."

Draco raised an eyebrow in incredulity. "Really? That's rubbish. It should be the other way around."

Ginny let out an inelegant snort. "Okay, Malfoy. I pledge to watch over you my entire life and save you from bodily harm, like the damsel in distress that you are."

"Weasley, I'll have you know that before I met you I had always been chivalrous towards pure-blooded females." Ginny opened her mouth to retort but he raised a hand to silence her. "And you have made me totally renege on my code of conduct the entire time that I have been here."

"Oh—" Ginny raised an eyebrow in interest "—and what's that?"

"Well, let's see." Draco began to make a list with his fingers. "I befriended Gryffindors against my will, I got into a feud with my own father—oh, and my personal favourite, you had me try to make out with my own mother!"

Ginny shook her head. "No, I meant what was your code of conduct. What was your motto?"

Draco lowered his hands. "Oh, it's death before dishonour."

"Death _before_ dishonour?" Ginny repeated, pursing her lips together. "How much dishonour are we talking about here, Malfoy, because I think you could handle quite a lot."

Draco rolled his eyes. "What a little comedian. You're in rather rare form tonight, Weasley."

"Near death experiences always draw out my witty side."

"Right. _Wit_." Draco leaned back against the door. "I knew there was a reason why I dislike you so."

"Pfft, you love me, Malfoy."

Draco snorted. "Weasley, I hate you so much it gives me _energy_."

"Really now?"

"Weasley, I have to get up _early_ in the morning to hate you because there just isn't enough time in the day!"

"Now who's the comedian?"

They both stared seriously at one another for a full ten seconds before breaking down into belly-rumbling laughter. After a minute's worth of spasming stomach muscles and dabbing tears from their eyes, the two teenagers slumped back against the wall, feeling utterly exhausted.

"Mr Unglaub? Miss Belette?"

Startled, they both turned to see Professor McGonagall standing just outside the door.

"I expected to find you two in the infirmary." She frowned disapprovingly. "I wanted to inform you both that the Acromantulas were re-released into the wild by our grounds keeper, Mr Hagrid. They're not allowed to come on the grounds ever again. However, I was informed that the beasts were provoked by some students who had entered the Forbidden Forest without permission." She pursed her lips together and raised a thin eyebrow. "Did either of you see the students who came out of the forest?"

Draco quickly scanned the crowd and caught the eye of James and Sirius, who were both looking at him rather pleadingly since they saw him talking with their Head of House. Draco then glanced over at Ginny, who merely shrugged indifferently and leaned her head back against the large wooden door. Draco paused and looked back at the professor. He then extended his arm and pointed a long index finger in the Marauders' direction.

"That lot right over there."

Ginny couldn't help but let out a snort. She stood up straight and observed the look of betrayal on the Marauders' faces, especially James and Sirius's.

Professor McGonagall frowned and immediately marched over to the gang. Both Draco and Ginny watched as James and Sirius attempted to defend themselves while Peter and Remus remained silent with their eyes cast downwards. The Transfiguration professor seemed entirely unconvinced by their pleas.

"So, why did you tell on them?" Ginny asked, wearily leaning her cheek against the door. "You seemed as though you actually got along with them. I mean they did all of this to get you to join their little gang."

"Weasley, they almost killed my parents and by extension _me_!" He pointed to himself with a look of disgust. "I don't take the murder of me lightly."

"Obviously not."

Professor McGonagall proceeded to escort the Marauders out of the Great Hall, with Sirius and James shooting Draco murderous glares. Behind them were Lily and Severus; the latter was pumping his fist triumphantly in the air.

"Maybe this is when they straighten themselves out and learn that there are consequences to their actions," Ginny said, and Draco let out an inelegant snort.

"Not likely."

Ginny pushed Draco's shoulder. "Pessimist!"

Draco pushed back. "Dreamer!"

Ginny stuck out her tongue and then almost choked on it.

Draco frowned as he watched the redhead have a coughing fit. He awkwardly patted her back while she tried to point a finger towards the dance floor. Bewildered, he followed her finger to see his mother and father kissing.

"We did it!" Ginny wheezed, still recovering from her coughing fit.

Draco couldn't help but silently cheer with her. He turned to offer Ginny a grin when she suddenly launched herself at him. Shocked, he caught her in an exuberant hug, unsure of what to do.

"We did it, Malfoy!"

"Ugh, my ribs," Draco moaned, wincing.

Ginny quickly let go and mumbled an apology, bending down to pick up Draco's jacket that had slipped off her shoulders. Even though the blond was still in pain, he reached down to retrieve the jacket at the same time and their fingers touched. A sudden jolt of electricity seemed to pass through them as skin met skin. They both let go and stood up at the same time.

Ginny stumbled backwards, losing her balance, and Draco instinctively reached forward to steady her. Their eyes met briefly and Draco handed her back his jacket. She thanked him and they both looked away, awkward and somewhat embarrassed.

"A distraction would be great right about now," Draco mumbled.

Just then a large hand suddenly clasped his shoulder, causing the blond to jump.

"Great Scott!" Dumbledore cried, grinning at the two startled students. "This device is extraordinarily fun."

Professor Dumbledore stood behind the two teenagers with a goofy expression on his face, opening his palm to show them the silver Time-Turner.

"Professor, you're back!" Ginny held a hand to her chest. She had one too many surprises tonight and she didn't know if she could handle another.

"Yes, sorry I was late," he apologised. "I ended up going to several points in time." His grin widened. "I must admit that the trips were rather enlightening."

Draco scoffed. "What happened to your philosophy on not knowing the future?"

The headmaster turned his attention to Draco. "Oh, but I didn't want to know _my_ future. Other's futures, however..." He trailed off and winked suggestively at both students.

Draco shook his head, not wanting to know whose futures the old wizard had visited. Ginny, on the other hand...

"Whose future did you visit, then?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Dumbledore said with a grin, handing the Time-Turner to Draco, and Ginny nodded.

"Yes, that's why I asked!"

"So it works, then?" Draco asked, ignoring Ginny as he held up the silver pocket watch.

"One-hundred percent," Dumbledore said. "I would perhaps advise Professor McGonagall—of the future, of course—of this device's _additional_ features." He then directed his attention to Ginny. "Whomever you got this from might not know this either."

Ginny blushed. "So... can we leave now?"

"Of course. Would you both rather leave now or in the morning?"

Ginny glanced over at Draco, who she knew was bound _not_ to receive a royal welcome at the Gryffindor Tower tonight should he return.

"No, now is fine," Ginny said, and Draco nodded in agreement.

"Yes, now, please."

Dumbledore paused, looking at the two askance until a rather big grin began to spread across his face.

"What?"

Ginny frowned at the old wizard's creepy grin. He was hiding something and she wanted to know what. But he merely gave her a wink and waved his hand in front of his face.

"Never mind," Dumbledore said with a shake of his head. "It's much more fun this way."

Ginny was about to disagree when Dumbledore raised his finger in remembrance.

"Ah, I must go retrieve the clothes you wore on the day of your arrival," he said, turning around to head towards his office. "I will meet you down at the lake in a few minutes."

Draco and Ginny watched the professor leave and then turned to face one another, seeing the dirt on each other's faces and the state of their knotted hair.

"I guess we better freshen up," Ginny said as she took out her wand and began to clean off the dirt and dried blood.

After she and Draco tidied themselves up, they walked outside to the south end of the castle where the lake was situated. When they finally made it down to the shore, Professor Dumbledore was already there waiting. Two wooden screens stood on the beach and the students eyed them curiously.

Dumbledore handed them their old uniforms and pointed to the wardrobe screens. "I suggest you both change quickly. It's rather cold out." He turned his back to them. "Let me know when you're both decent."

Draco and Ginny exchanged glances and then raced towards the dividers, quickly taking off their tattered clothes and putting on their old uniforms. Ginny was just glad to be in shoes again. When they both stepped out and said they were ready, Dumbledore turned around.

"So, when is the exact date you left?"

Ginny involuntarily raised her hand and Draco lowered it for her. "This isn't the classroom, Weasley."

Ginny gave both Draco and Dumbledore a sheepish grin. "Sorry. September 8, 1998—that's when we left."

Dumbledore raised his wand and made a motion for Draco to take out the Time-Turner. The blond held it out for the headmaster to see and the old wizard pointed his wand at each separate dial—setting each year, month and day on the device. He then took the chain from Draco's hand and wrapped it around both students' necks and stood back.

"Just give the small dial on the top a light tap."

Ginny glanced up at Draco and smiled awkwardly. She reached for the Time-Turner that dangled in between then and tapped it with confidence.

"Good luck," Dumbledore said with a wave of his hand, that knowing grin still plastered on his aged face.

The Time-Turner then began to hum, ringing in their ears until they almost went deaf. The familiar, nauseating feeling of vertigo seized them both. Colours swirled, as did the scenery, and they raced ahead in time, grabbing onto each other's hand for support. And just as suddenly as it had begun, it had ended. The two Hogwarts 'exchange' students had blinked out of the year 1975.

* * *

**Author's notes:** Incidentally, 'death before dishonour' is the SAS's motto and code of conduct.


	11. All's Well That Ends Well

All's Well That Ends Well

(and Other Ridiculous Adages)

**.**

**.**

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

The harsh, blaring noise trumpeted in his ears like a relentless harpy, and Draco clasped his hands over his ears to shut out the sound.

"What in Salazar's name is that racket?" he yelled above the din, directing a scowl at his travelling companion.

"_What_?"

Ginny took a step forward and was instantly yanked back by the chain wrapped around both their necks. Draco instinctively reached out and caught her in his arms, feeling her weight press comfortably into his chest. In a panic to regain her balance, Ginny blindly grasped his hand and Draco helped her to her feet. She glanced up at him with sheepish appreciation, but then the beeping noise sounded again and she released his hand.

"I think it's coming from the Time-Turner!" she yelled, mercilessly tapping at the glass cover of the device until it finally ceased its relentless beeping. Silence filled the air once more and she shook the Time-Turner, bringing it to her ear. "Professor Dumbledore must have altered it, although I'm not sure why."

Draco glowered at the redhead and lowered the Time-Turner from her ear. "Yes, well let's hope the annoying sound effect somehow added to the accuracy of the blasted device and brought us home to _our_ time."

Ginny sighed wearily and dropped the Time-Turner between them. The two students stood mutely on the shoreline, taking in the view. The sky above them was lit with swirling colours of reddish-oranges and violets, which were quickly darkening to a deep azure. Dusk was quickly approaching as a smattering of stars peeked out over the horizon, adding a dazzling shimmer to the dark blue lake below.

"Well, it looks like we made it," Ginny said with an upwards inflection. "This definitely isn't winter."

Gone were the chilly air and the crisp white snow from 1975. Instead they were greeted with a warm autumn breeze and the beautiful scenery of green and gold foliage.

"Yes, it was a blinding success," Draco drawled. "Neither of us was melted into oblivion or had our eyes poked out with sharpened sticks."

Ginny cast a sidelong glance at the blond. "Sharpened sticks?"

Draco waved his hand dismissively and took a step forward, forgetting that the Time-Turner was still around both their necks. Predictably yanked back, he cursed vehemently at his own stupidity. An agonising second later, Ginny stood on her toes and removed the chain from around his neck. The brief contact of her fingers against his bare skin made him flinch and he hastily pulled away, stuffing his hands into his trousers.

"The question we need answered is whether we made it to September 8th, _1998_." His eyes scanned past the shoreline until they spotted a familiar white tombstone.

"Everything _looks_ the same," she said, taking a sweeping view of the lake as she absently pocketed the Time-Turner.

She then turned her attention towards the castle, following Draco's intent gaze until she spotted Dumbledore's gravestone. Draco exhaled loudly and turned away.

"Let's go inside."

He began to walk towards the castle, keeping his pace slow in order to allow Ginny to catch up. The redhead quickly fell in line with his footsteps and began to nervously wring her hands, unsure of what to expect.

"_What have you got there, Weasley? Pilfered some hapless bloke's pocket watch?_"

"_Stuff it, Malfoy!_"

Ginny's eyes grew as wide as saucer plates when she heard the familiar voices. Before she could speak, Draco grabbed her by the waist and placed his hand over her mouth, dragging her behind a tree. He dropped his hand from her waist and took out his wand, casting a quick Disillusionment Charm over them both. Ginny felt it slip wet and cold down her back with a shiver.

Draco slowly lowered his hand from her mouth and put his lips against her ear. "Quiet, Weasley."

"That's us!" Ginny hissed, and Draco's hand went back to her mouth.

"Shh!"

The two had just made it to the cliff's ascent, which was nestled in a sycamore grove only a few hundred metres from the beach near the stone steps that led to the front entrance of the castle. Both watched in horror and amazement as two very familiar figures bickered back and forth on the beach.

"_So whom'd you lift this off?_"

The indelible scene was unfolding in front of them like some embarrassing dream put on repeat. Ginny was reminded of watching mo-vees at Hermione's, trying to distinguish between the real and the surreal. Déjà vu really hit home, however, when she saw herself slapping Draco's wrist, earning her past self a withered look from the blond before he grabbed the Time-Turner from her. The two carbon copies continued their heated row, tugging on the chain of the Time-Turner until it snapped in half.

Past Draco grabbed the dial, inadvertently turning it.

"_Malfoy, don't—_"

"_What the—?_"

"_Mother-fu—_"

Poof. Gone.

Draco and Ginny opened their mouths in slack-jawed wonderment, having just witnessed their past selves blink out of existence. A moment of silence passed with neither looking at the other in fear that either one would be made to rationalise what had just transpired. Instead, they remained huddled together, staring at the dark, deserted shoreline.

"So, I guess it was my fault too," Draco muttered quietly to himself, and Ginny snapped her head around to openly gap at him.

"Pardon?" She was unsure if she had heard him correctly.

Draco cleared his throat and then went about straightening his tie. "I said you're quite amusing when you're flustered, Weasley."

Ginny rolled her eyes, knowing that an admission of guilt from the Slytherin was too good to be true. "Yes, well you're an arse when you're an arse."

Draco's smirked, as if this were a compliment, and he pulled out his wand, non-verbally removing the Disillusionment Charm. A hot trickling sensation stole down their backs and they both let out a soft sigh of relief. The two then began to trudge the rest of the way up the side of the cliff, resuming their destination to the castle.

As they walked side by side in silence, Ginny began to wring her hands once more. Draco glanced down at the redhead and tentatively put a hand on top of hers to cease her fidgeting. He then quickly removed his hand from hers and raked his fingers through his fine fringe.

"What's wrong, Weasley?"

Ginny slowly shrugged her shoulders forward. "It's nothing. I just..." She paused, glancing up at him. "I just hope we didn't bungle everything up."

"_We_?"

"You know what I mean."

"Rarely, if ever."

The two continued walking and finally made their way up the top of the cliff. Ginny's shoulders seemed to droop even lower with every step she took and Draco let out an exasperated sigh, coming to an abrupt stop only a few metres from the castle. The redhead halted and spun around, giving the blond a puzzled look.

"What is it?"

"Listen, Weasley, I know I'm normally the least sanguine of the two—"

"_Sanguine_?"

"It means hopeful," Draco clarified, irritated. "It means _bloody_ as well."

He narrowed his eyes and gave her a look that seemed to ask if she was going to interrupt any further. Ginny raised her palms in a gesture of surrender, urging him to continue.

"As I was saying—I may not be as _optimistic_ as you, but what we just saw on the beach has to confirm some facts."

"Like what?"

"Like we just saw ourselves using the Time-Turner, so we have to exist here in this present-past, or whatever the proper term for _this_ is." He spread his arms wide, gesturing to the open landscape. "The castle is standing, the sky is blue, we still look and sound as though we hate each other, Dumbledore's tombstone is there..."

He trailed off at the last part, hazarding a sidelong glance at Ginny, who was now looking off into the distance in a contemplative manner.

"Hmm, you're right," she agreed with a slow now. "I wonder what's changed for the better."

"Weasley, I highly doubt we've interrupted the past that much," Draco said, rolling his eyes at Ginny's quickly rediscovered optimism. "I mean as long as I exist now it means that my parents got together and had me—and that's a comforting thought."

Now it was Ginny's turn to roll her eyes. "Yeah, real comforting for the world at large."

Draco inclined his head and they both continued their trek towards the castle. Opening the doors, Draco stood off to the side, allowing Ginny to step inside first. As the doors closed behind them, they stood and stared at the numerous students milling about the hallways, no doubt heading towards the Great Hall for the Sorting. Both Draco and Ginny scanned the crowd, trying to spot a familiar face.

"Oh, Dean and Seamus!" Ginny cried excitedly after a half-minute of searching, pointing out the Gryffindor duo in the sea of students.

Draco followed her finger and squinted. "I don't know who those two are."

"Dean _Thomas_ and Seamus _Finnigan_," she clarified, causing Draco to glower. "I gather we've made it to the right time period. Perhaps that's what that buzzing was all for, to let us know that we arrived at the right date."

She glanced up at Draco, who merely shrugged indifferently. "Whatever," he said, not bothering to postulate a theory. "It's all rubbish to me."

Ginny sighed and glanced down at her robes in vague remembrance. She shoved her hands into her pockets and began fishing about for the Time-Turner. Her fingertips touched cool metal and she curled her fingers around the device, bringing it out of her pocket to examine it.

"Don't fiddle with that!" Draco barked, seeing Ginny poking at the Time-Turner.

"Dammit!" she swore, dropping the chain in surprise. "Don't scare me like that! You made me drop it."

"Well, _excuse_ me. The reason we got into this mess in the first place is because of your arsing around with the blasted thing."

Ginny narrowed her eyes and literally growled at the blond. "Don't you start in on _that_ again!"

Draco gritted his teeth, far from browbeaten, and was about to issue a scathing retort when his attention was diverted to the marble floors. The white-gold chain of the Time-Turner twinkled in the last dying rays of sun that came in through the large stained-glass windows.

"I see it!" he announced, and hunched over to pick up the chain.

"Ginny?" a familiar voice called out, and both Draco and Ginny glanced up to see Ron sprinting across the hall to grab his sister by the shoulders. There was a look of fright mixed with exasperated anger reflecting in his bright blue eyes. "We've been looking everywhere for you! Where in Merlin's name did you run off to?"

"Steady on!" Ginny hissed upon reflex, trying to wrest herself free of her brother's tenacious grip. Then, as though slowly coming to the realisation that she hadn't seen Ron in over four months, a huge grin spread across her face. "Ron!"

"Ginny, what's with your—"

Ron was unable to finish his sentence before his little sister launched herself at him, giving him a big, tight hug. She hung from him like a rag doll, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck.

"Merlin, I never thought I'd say this, but I've _missed_ you!"

With this, she tightened her hold on him and Ron managed to choke out her name while gasping for air.

"Gin-_ny_, you're choking me."

Ginny instantly let go and lowered her feet to the floor. She stepped back and gave her brother a sheepish grin. "Sorry about that. It's just been so long."

Ron massaged his neck and raised a ginger eyebrow in incredulity. "Is this some kind of joke? I don't know why you're talking the way you are but—but cut it out cause it's unnerving me!"

Ginny took another step back and frowned. Okay, so she wasn't normally _this_ affectionate with Ron, but there was no reason for him to be such a ponce about it. At this point, Draco had stood up and joined the Weasley siblings, the Time-Turner dangling in his hand.

"Ginny, who are you with?" Ron asked, peering over her shoulder. His eyes suddenly went wide with recognition and anger. "_Malfoy_!"

"Weasley," Draco replied flatly, rubbing his fingers along the length of the chain before handing it to Ginny.

Open-mouthed, Ron watched as Draco's hand touch Ginny's and he instinctively pushed his sister out of the way and drew his wand, pointing it at Draco's face. "Clear off, Ferret!"

Draco quickly brought his hand up and lowered Ron's. "Steady on, Weasley." He turned to regard Ginny. "_See_?" He jerked his head in the direction of her befuddled and emotionally charged brother. "I told you nothing has changed."

Ron's grip on his wand slackened, as did his jaw. "W-what?" He lowered his wand, looking back and forth between Draco and Ginny in a state of perpetual shock.

Ginny stepped in between the two boys and turned to face her brother. "Back off, Ron," she warned, pointing a finger at him. "You don't need to be so bloody blinkered all the time."

Ron looked too confused to be crestfallen or maybe he was bewildered by the fact that his sister appeared to have taken Draco's side over his. In fact, the tall redhead looked as though he was about to cry from sheer mystification.

"What in the name of Circe's short skirt is going on?" he bellowed, spittle flying everywhere.

Ginny turned to look at Draco, who merely shrugged in apathy. She let out a defeated sigh and made a motion for Draco to follow her. The two casually strolled past Ron, who openly gawked at them as they went.

As they walked towards the Entrance Hall, Draco bent down and whispered in Ginny's ear, "Told you we made it."

"Oh, yes—" Ginny rolled her eyes "—you _told_ me."

Draco grinned, looking happier than he had been in ages. "I never thought I'd be glad to see your idiot of a brother."

"Malfoy—"

"Settle down, Weasley. I'm not trying to wind you up. I'm just happy we made it back to our time where your brother still hates me."

Ginny cocked her head to the side. "You're happy about that?"

"Of course I am. This is all the proof I needed to know that we're not in some sort of parallel universe where I need to worry about Potter initiating me into a gang."

Ginny let a brief smile linger on her lips before putting on a serious expression. "The Trio aren't like the Marauders: they make you wrestle Hippogriffs as opposed to Acromantulas."

Draco let out a dignified snort and shook his head disapprovingly. "Nancies."

Ginny looked askance at Draco, who was trying his best to maintain a stoic façade. His grey eyes finally met her brown ones and the two couldn't contain the laughter that was inevitable, and they both broke down into a fit of giggles.

"That was a _horrible_ joke, Weasley," Draco said, quickly recovering, but Ginny let out one last giggle before composing herself.

"Yes, well, I work with what you give me, which isn't much."

It was just as Ginny was about to deliver her customary punch to Draco's shoulder that she noticed several groups of students observing them with obvious interest.

"Everyone's looking at us," she whispered out of the side of her mouth, as though this was her ingenious plan to prevent others from realising that they two were acting cordial towards each other.

"Well, we _are_ holding a civil conversation in the middle of the halls, Weasley," he said dryly, ignoring the prying eyes. "And my hair doesn't appear to be lit on fire."

Ginny giggled despite her earlier instinct to play off their familiarity. "Good point." She then let out a long sigh and nervously scratched the back of her neck. "I guess we should go get ready for the Sorting."

Draco nodded in agreement and Ginny walked past him. She descended the stairs at the Entrance Hall and took a left, which led to a large portrait. But before she could speak the password, a voice cried out behind her.

"Weasley!"

Ginny turned around, her eyes wide in wonder. "Yes?"

Draco had followed her and was standing at the top of the stairs, pointing a long finger in her direction. "You're heading towards the Slytherin dormitories."

Ginny blushed a scarlet red. "Oh, right." She laughed nervously and skipped back up the stairs. She had got used to taking that entrance for the past four months. "Hey, you don't figure we're in the same houses that we were back in '75, do you?"

"I certainly hope not," Draco said, coming down the stairs. "Besides, you're too much of a bleeding heart to be in Slytherin."

Ginny placed a hand on her hip and mockingly glared up at Draco. "And you don't have enough _heart_ to be in Gryffindor," she said flippantly, and then paused. "Wait, do you even have a heart?"

Draco placed his hand over his heart. "Your words wound me, Weasley."

"Tosser," Ginny said playfully, and then stuck her tongue out at him. "Well, I guess we'll find out. You go to the dungeons and I'll go to the towers."

"Yes, m'lady," he replied, giving her a formal bow much like the one he gave her on the train, except this time it was far from malicious.

Ginny rolled her eyes but still smiled, bounding up the stairs as Draco descended them. When she made her way to the Gryffindor Towers, she felt an immense weight lift off her shoulders. She suddenly wanted to familiarise herself with the common room, to have a chat with the Fat Lady, to re-initiate herself into her original house.

Like how she had reacted with Ron earlier, Ginny had forgot how much she missed Gryffindor and Hogwarts. She missed her old life. But Ginny was also faintly aware that though this timeline may be the same one she once lived in, time for her had changed; perceptions had changed.

After quickly checking out the common room and the girls' dormitories, and seeing nothing new, Ginny went into her room and returned the Time-Turner under Hermione's bed. She would tell Hermione what she had done later that night after dinner. She wasn't exactly looking forward to the lecture she was bound to receive.

The dormitories were completely empty as everyone was sitting in the Great Hall waiting for the Sorting to take place so that they could eat. Ginny exited the tower as fast as she could, jogging briskly towards the doors to the Great Hall where she could see everyone getting settled in. The noise was almost deafening as she approached and she grinned foolishly when she spotted the great frizzy mane of Hermione Granger. The grin quickly disappeared once she remembered what she would have to tell the brunette after dinner.

Without warning, a pale hand flew out of nowhere and caught her by the wrist, dragging her behind the open doors. Ginny let out a half-yelp, half-laugh as she quickly sussed out whose customary greeting it was to pull her behind the doors to the Great Hall.

"Still a little lion, Weasley?" Draco drawled, dropping Ginny's wrist and offering her a cocky grin.

"Still a slithering snake, Malfoy?" Ginny asked in reply, sticking out her tongue.

"Indeed," Draco said, flicking at her tongue with his finger before quickly wiping his hand on his trousers. "And I wouldn't have it any other way."

Ginny clasped a hand over her mouth in shock and then reached forward, pushing Draco back against the wall with her other hand.

"Prat," she muttered, covering her smile with both hands and then letting them drop to her sides. "I suppose we should go inside and take our seats at our respective tables."

Draco let out a sigh of boredom and peered around the door, glancing at the Slytherin table. "We should..." He paused and turned around to regard Ginny with a somewhat pensive look. "It's odd, but I keep expecting Potter and Black to jump out from around a corner and tackle me."

Ginny clasped her hands together and giggled. "Aww, you miss them."

Draco's expression soured, recoiling at her insinuation. "Bite your tongue, woman!" He began adjusting his tie. "I've just become accustomed to being tortured for the last four months."

"Poor you," Ginny said with little sympathy, reaching forward to help him straighten his tie. "You know I can help you out with that—the torture, that is."

"You're absolutely beastly, Weasley," Draco said, softly slapping her hand away. "I think you've done enough irrevocable damage for one life time."

"_Beastly_?" Ginny laughed. "You snobby git."

"It's part of my charm."

"Draco?"

Both Draco and Ginny turned around to see Blaise Zabini, having just come out of the boys' lavatory. The golden-eyed boy's brow was creased in confusion, openly regarding Draco with curiosity and Ginny with disdain.

"Blaise."

Draco didn't even bother to give an excuse for why he was standing in a dark corner with Ginny Weasley. He had nothing to hide, but he had nothing to explain either. Blaise, meanwhile, narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips together ever so slightly.

"I'll see you at the table," he said after a pause. While obviously curious as to what was going on, the dark-haired Slytherin wasn't about to question Draco in front of a Gryffindor.

Draco watched Blaise go and briefly turned around to meet Ginny's eyes. "I'll meet you out here after the Sorting."

Ginny nodded and let Draco and Blaise pass through first before she entered. As soon as she crossed the threshold, her brother, Hermione and Harry all turned to look at her. Quietly, she lowered her head and took a seat closest to the door, trying her best to avoid eye contact. After an agonising hour of Sorting and announcements, Ginny finally glanced across the table in the direction of Slytherin, catching Draco's eye. He was looking directly at her, pointing to his wrist and holding up his index finger, and then pointing to the doors of the Great Hall.

Ginny nodded in understanding, but instead of waiting a minute to go greet Draco outside the doors she decided to make her way there first. She was understandably uncomfortable with the Trio's gaze, knowing that Ron wanted to corner her and ask her about Malfoy. Right now though, she was more intent on finding out her own answers, _with Draco_.

She quickly left the Great Hall and hid behind the doors. After a minute, Draco walked out and she reached out to grab his wrist, yanking him back into the corner.

"Salazar's nuts!"

Ginny giggled at his expression and let go of his wrist. "You were due, Malfoy."

"I disagree," Draco growled, leaning against the wall adjacent to door while Ginny continued to giggle.

"Merlin, I thought the Sorting would never end!" she said, after fully recovering.

"Yes, there was a lot more waffling this year than usual. And more brats," he added, before bending down to look Ginny square in the eyes. "Any from _your_ brood, Weasley?"

Ginny gave him an ungracious shove before landing her fist on his bicep. "Shut it!"

Draco flinched and immediately began rubbing his tender arm. "I'd love to, but the sound of my own voice distracts me from my irritation."

"Really?" Ginny asked with feigned incredulity. "Because it _compounds_ mine!"

As the two continued to playfully banter back and forth, a figure stepped out from around the doorway, staring intently at the couple with bespectacled green eyes.

"What now?" Draco asked behind gritted teeth, seeing the infamous Harry Potter walking towards them.

But Harry ignored Draco. Instead he looked down at Ginny, concerned. "Is Malfoy bothering you?"

"No more than usual," Ginny said, and Draco rolled his eyes.

"Nice one, Weasley."

"Thank you," she said, offering Draco a smile and shallow bow.

Harry watched this highly unusual and confusing cordial back-and-forth take place in front of him with a mixture of incredulity and curiosity.

"Harry, I'm fine, really. Malfoy and I are just... talking." She briefly glanced back up at Draco, shooting him a warning glare in case he decided to be a ponce and contradict her.

Draco begrudgingly relented and let out a huff of annoyance. Harry, however, beyond puzzled, opened his mouth to reply when Ginny reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll see you in the common room later, yeah?" She gave him a look that brooked no argument, and Harry slowly nodded, his brow still knit in deep confusion.

"Uhm, yeah, okay."

"On your way then, Potter," Draco said, a smug grin plastered on his face as he made a shooing gesture with his hands.

"Malfoy!" Ginny growled threateningly, effectively silencing the blond.

Draco scoffed at Ginny, crossing his arms over his chest in a petulant manner, but ultimately relented. Harry, on the other hand, didn't let out a sound, and walked back to the Gryffindor table in a daze.

"I told you, didn't I!" Ron said, seeing the look of befuddlement in his best mate's eyes.

"Y-yeah, you did," Harry said, absently taking his seat between Ron and Hermione. "You were right, Ron. That was—that was _odd_." He turned to look at Hermione for answers. "Hermione?"

"I-I—I dunno," Hermione stuttered, unable to explain it. "Ron was _right_?"

Ron was too worked up to notice Hermione's slight on his judgement. "Maybe it's a spell," he offered as a means of explanation, and both Ron and Harry looked to Hermione for confirmation.

"That is a plausible explanation," she said slowly, still shell-shocked, "but I've never heard of such a spell."

"It has to be a spell!" Ron cried, determined to believe his own theory.

"Whatever it may be, we ought to inform Professor McGonagall," said Hermione, and Ron and Harry agreed.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Draco and Ginny had become strangely mute, unsure of what to say to one another after their confrontation with Harry. Everyone appeared to be quite confused at the erstwhile enemies' seemingly cordial attitude towards one another. This, of course, only seemed to confirm that they were in the past-present (or whatever the term was).

Everything appeared to be the same as they had left it. House prejudices still existed, Professor McGonagall was the new headmistress and Dumbledore's tombstone still stood near the shores of the lake.

"So, I guess nothing has changed," Ginny said, and Draco inspected his nails.

"Thank Salazar."

"I suppose so..."

Draco dropped his hand and glanced down at Ginny, his grey eyes softening. "You'd hoped that your brother would still be alive, hadn't you?"

"Yeah," she said with a warble, and Draco grimaced.

"I'm sorry, Weasley," he said, placing a warm hand on her shoulder.

Ginny glanced up at Draco with wide, searching eyes. Her penetrating gaze and his own uncharacteristic gesture of kindness made the Slytherin falter. He dropped his hand and noisily cleared his throat.

"Well, I wouldn't mind _not_ being known as the idiot who tried to kill Dumbledore," he said, attempting levity, and Ginny glowered, unmoved by his morbid humour.

"I guess we all have our crosses to bear," she muttered darkly.

Draco smiled at her reaction, feeling that they had both regained a sense of normalcy. "At least we're both still pretty," he said with a bit of cheek, before forced to back-peddle. "Not that you're..."

He paused, fumbling under her scrutinising stare. A knowing smirk angled on Ginny's lips and Draco rolled his eyes at her baiting, letting out a resigned sigh.

"All right, Weasley, you're cute," he admitted with obvious defeat. "Don't let it go to your head."

"I'll try not to." His smirk widened. "I guess this is my cue to go back inside before you start insulting me again."

As she turned to walk past him, he suddenly reached out and grabbed her by the forearm, gently pulling her back.

"Weasley, wait." He dropped his hand when he saw her staring at it. "You're a—you're a good sort, _Ginny_."

Ginny lifted an eyebrow at the half-bashful expression that Draco was trying so desperately to mask. "Thanks, _Draco_." She put a small hand on his arm. "You're not so bad yourself—once you get past the shallow exterior and the layers upon layers of arrogance."

"I happen to like my layers," he drawled, running a slender hand down his chest for emphasis.

"Of course you would," Ginny said with a snort, gently moving her hand onto his chest and causing the blond to tense. "One thing though: could we just stick to last names for now?"

"Salazar, yes."

He instinctively brought his hand up to touch hers and the electrifying contact startled them both. They dropped their hands in haste, glancing furtively about the empty hallway to see if anyone had spotted them.

"I mean—" Draco cleared his throat "—I'd call you by your first name for propriety's sake but I'd just rather not." He feigned a look of disgust. "It makes me feel _unclean_. Old prejudices die hard and all that."

Ginny cocked her fist back and delivered Draco a swift punch to his bicep.

"Oww!" Draco clutched his arm. "What did you do that for?"

"I'm helping you put those old prejudices to bed." Ginny offered him a wry grin. "Pain makes an excellent learning tool."

Draco growled and lowered his arm. "Have I not endured enough pain, torture and humiliation these past four months, Weasley?"

"No."

"Ahem."

The sound of someone clearing her throat interrupted from behind and the two students spun around to see Headmistress McGonagall standing just outside the doors with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Mr Malfoy," Professor McGonagall began with her usual authoritative tone, "would you accompany me to my office?" Her sharp nostrils flared out as she waited, regarding Draco with unmasked impatience.

Draco grimaced and reluctantly inclined his head, stepping past Ginny to follow the older witch. McGonagall let her gaze linger on Ginny for a moment in a contemplative manner, no doubt wondering why Ginny was alone with Draco.

"Is everything alright, Miss Weasley?" she prompted, briefly glancing in Draco's direction.

Draco scowled at the headmistress's obvious mistrust. He remembered a time not so long ago (back in 1975) when the Transfiguration professor liked him and actually cared about his well-being. Obviously that time had passed and Draco was no longer afforded such trust or simple pleasantries.

"Oh, I'm fine, Headmistress," Ginny answered quickly. "Malfoy and I were just talking."

Professor McGonagall raised a thin brow in curiosity, swiftly uncrossing her arms. Ginny swallowed hard, uncomfortable with the headmistress's gaze. She brought a hand to the back of her neck and rubbed nervously.

"Well, I had better get back to the table before Ron eats everything in sight," Ginny added with a half-laugh, offering McGonagall a thin smile before stepping out in front of the doors. "Good evening, Headmistress." She then briefly glanced over her shoulder at Draco and offered him a smirk. "Good luck, Malfoy."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Thanks, Weasley."

At this Professor McGonagall let out a low chortle. Ginny slowly spun around, knitting her brow in confusion, and Draco regarded the old witch as though she had just sprouted a second head.

"I was wondering when you two would _arrive_," McGonagall said, emphasising the verb before sweeping past Ginny and quietly closed the Great Hall doors.

"Wha—you remember us?"

"Of course," McGonagall said. "How could I forget the two _exchange_ students from 1975?"

Draco and Ginny immediately looked at one another. Ginny opened her mouth in awe, taking a step back from the taller witch.

"But how did you know we made it back?"

McGonagall sighed and clasped her hands together. "Miss Weasley, you're conversing in _French_ right now."

"Oh." Ginny worried her bottom lip with her teeth until a light suddenly went off in her head. "_Oh_!"

Draco smacked his forehead with his palm.

"Apparently _neither_ of you removed your Language Charm before you returned here to this time," McGonagall explained with barely contained amusement.

This explained why Ron and Harry thought Draco and Ginny had gone bonkers—besides the fact that the two were acting civil towards each other.

"You know when I saw you two arrive at Hogwarts as young children, I had always wondered how you were both able to speak those languages so fluently," McGonagall mused aloud, bringing a thin hand to her pointed chin.

"Pardon me?"

"I figured out whom _Drago_ was straight off," she said dryly, and then glanced at Ginny. "But it took me a few years to figure out who _Geneviève_ was. It was a touch difficult to associate that long red mane of yours with the wavy blonde hair of Miss Belette."

"The Glamour Charm!" Ginny exclaimed suddenly, her green eyes twinkling in shock as she touched her strawberry-blonde hair.

"I'll remove that, Miss Weasley, along with the accent spell." She withdrew her wand from her robes. "Fortunately, Professor Dumbledore left a note for me to open on this day, detailing how to lift the spell."

After some complicated wandstrokes and a spell that sounded almost lyrical, Professor McGonagall removed the Language Charm and then went to work on changing Ginny's eye colour from green to brown and returning her hair to its former darker shade of red.

"There we go." The older witch stepped back to take a better look at Ginny and Draco. "The exchange students are now Hogwarts students once more."

Draco and Ginny regarded each other with a frown. Ginny brought her hand to her hair, twirling an amber lock between her fingers and then raising it eye level to inspect the accuracy of its colour. Once satisfied, she lowered her hand and looked up sheepishly at Professor McGonagall.

"Are we in trouble?" she asked hesitantly.

"I don't know, are you?" McGonagall asked, giving Ginny a queer look.

The redhead's shoulders sagged forward and then a sudden look of horror seized her. "Are we going to Azkaban?"

Draco slowly turned with his brow creased and his mouth hung slightly ajar. He was giving Ginny a spectacular _what-the-deuce_ look.

"Merlin no!" McGonagall placed her hands on her hips. "Whatever would make you think that?"

"Professor Dumbledore told us that the Ministry would arrest us for improper use of a Time-Turner."

Clarity finally registered in the old witch's eyes and she placed a frail hand on the Ginny's shoulder. "Back then you would have undoubtedly been put on trial, but now... well, the Ministry has more important matters to deal with, so let's make this a school punishment as opposed to a government one."

"Thank you, Headmistress," Ginny mumbled, head bent, avoiding the no-doubt murderous glare Draco was directing at her head.

Professor McGonagall noted the menacing gleam in Draco's eyes and sniffed loudly, dropping her hand from Ginny's shoulder. "Did you return the device to Miss Granger?"

Ginny nodded in the affirmative.

"I will have to get it from her tomorrow morning, then," McGonagall said to no one in particular.

At this point Ginny began wringing her hands. The headmistress noted the nervous habit with raised eyebrows.

"Do you have something else to add, Miss Weasley?"

Ginny shook her head at first and then frowned, opening her mouth. "Well, Professor Dumbledore altered the Time-Turner."

"Altered it how?"

"I'm not sure, but it makes this weird beeping noise now," she explained, furrowing her brow in frustration.

McGonagall let out a short laugh and smiled. "Miss Weasley, it was probably some inside joke of his, or not." She glanced at Draco. "You never knew what to expect from Professor Dumbledore."

Draco let out an annoyed sigh. "May I go now?"

McGonagall shook her head. "No. I came here looking for you, Mr Malfoy." She clasped her hands together in a serious manner. "Your father is here to see you."

Draco raised a pale eyebrow in shock. "My father?"

"Yes, now follow me to my office," Professor McGonagall ordered impatiently and turned to look at Ginny. "You can come as well, Miss Weasley."

"_Me_? Why?"

"To outline your punishment, of course." McGonagall wrapped her robes tightly about herself. "And to ask you more about the handling of the Time-Tuner."

"Oh."

Ginny swallowed nervously and Professor McGonagall curled her finger back, indicating that the two to follow her. She turned around to head towards her office with both students in tow.

"What's wrong, Weasley?" Draco asked with feigned concern, stepping in line with Ginny. "Afraid to have a chat with _Lucius_?"

Ginny hesitated for a moment and then lifted her chin high, determined not to dignify his question with an answer—an answer that was obvious (yes, she was bloody well afraid). But Draco wouldn't take silence for an answer. As they made their way towards the headmistress's office, he continued to egg Ginny on, trying to provoke a response

"C'mon, where's that Gryffindor courage, Weasley?"

"Pfft," Ginny scoffed as they began the short ascent up the stairs. "You do realise that the Sorting process is utter bollocks."

"Miss Weasley!" Professor McGonagall spun around on the top of the landing, glancing down disapprovingly at her intrepid Gryffindor.

"Sorry, Headmistress," Ginny mumbled, before being ushered inside the office. "But, honestly, they're just stock traits. Not every house member must fit into an iron mould—there is always room for deviation."

"And there's always room for _deviants_."

Ginny gasped and took a staggering step back, bumping into Draco as she grabbed for his hand. Draco glanced over to see his father standing in the corner of the office with two nondescript wizards standing on either side.

"Father."

"Hello, Draco." Lucius then directed his attention to McGonagall, who had closed the door behind her. "_Headmistress_ McGonagall."

Lucius briefly glanced down at his son holding hands with a petite red-haired girl. Neither shock nor confusion registered on his impassive face. Instead he let his grey eyes travel upwards and linger for a moment on Ginny's face before he greeted her too.

"Miss Weasley."

Ginny swallowed hard but did not look away. Instead, she held his gaze while Draco unconsciously squeezed her hand reassuringly. Lucius noted this with faint interest before taking a step towards his son.

"Father, is everything well?" Draco asked hesitantly, unsure of why his father was in Professor McGonagall's office with armed guards.

In the original timeline, Wizengamot had not yet determined Lucius's fate. He was, in fact, being interned at the Ministry where he awaited his punishment. Draco's fate and his mother's, however, had already been decided: Narcissa with no charges placed on her and Draco with all charges dropped—thanks to Potter.

"As well as it can be," he drawled dryly, glancing back at the two wizards who appeared to be his guards. "The Ministry's put me under house arrest rather than incarcerate me at Azkaban." He sniffed haughtily. "It appears there was a lack of evidence when it came to arresting me with something incriminating, besides my earlier _crime_."

Lucius had served a term in Azkaban before he was set free by Voldemort. The time he had left to serve would be tacked onto his house arrest.

"What about Mother?" Draco asked, hoping that she was still regarded as innocent.

"She hasn't been charged with anything, just like you," Lucius answered tersely, fingering his onyx and ivory cane.

"How long will you be under house arrest?"

"Ten years," he replied stiffly. "_Minimum_."

Draco furrowed his brow, wondering where this left him. Did he have to go into house arrest with them like his mother volunteered? Could he visit them? Was he permitted?

"So, where shall I be living?"

"Your mother and I will be staying at the villa in Tuscany rather than Malfoy Manor," Lucius answered, much to Draco's relief. "The estate and all properties are now yours, Draco."

Draco made to open his mouth but Professor McGonagall interjected first.

"It's the best way to not have the Ministry seize all your assets," she stated bitingly, glaring at the older Malfoy.

"Indeed." Lucius sneered at the headmistress before regarding his son with a somewhat softer expression. "You're now the sole proprietor of Malfoy estates and have all-access to the coiffures." He briefly glanced back at McGonagall before he straightened his back. "Remember to donate _generously_ to the Ministry and Hogwarts."

Draco shook his head in disbelief. "Forgive my impertinence, Father, but why is it just you here to see me and not Mother?"

"Your mother's busy packing," Lucius said, as though his son had just asked the stupidest question in the world. "I was _permitted_ to come here to personally deliver you my wand." He then unsheathed his wand, handing it and the cane over to his son. "Your mother and I are forbidden to use magic, nor are we allowed house-elves."

Draco let go of Ginny's hand and took his father's wand. "Am I allowed to visit?"

"I do believe scheduled visits are permitted." Lucius briefly glanced back at his two guards. "Your mother is already looking into it." He took a step forward and placed a large hand on his son's shoulder. "Draco, I'm afraid my time here is limited."

"Oh, uh, yes," Draco fumbled for words, unsure of whether to step aside and let his father pass or attempt to awkwardly embrace him. He briefly looked to Ginny for advice.

Lucius watched this exchange and let out a snort. "Draco, you don't need Miss Weasley's permission to give a proper goodbye to your father."

Draco met his father's eyes and opened his mouth in protest. "Father, it's not what you—"

"_Unglaub_," Lucius interrupted in perfect German, "_do you really think your father is that stupid_?" A slight smirk angled on his lips before he took a step forward and stiffly embraced his son.

Dumbfounded, Draco lifted his arm and returned his father's singular act of affection with an awkward pat. Ginny, in turn, took a step back and Professor McGonagall reached forward, placing a warm hand on the redhead's shoulder.

Lucius released his son and stood back, doing up the clasp to his cloak. He then directed his attention at Ginny, who met his cold grey eyes with unwavering determination. The corners of his mouth twitched upwards into a sneer before he wiped any telling expression off his face.

"_Belette_? _Honestly_?" he asked Ginny in French, slight indignation ringing in his voice. He let out a sharp sigh and walked past her, his expensive shoes clicking on the marble floor. "Well, at least the dodgy old wizard had a sense of humour."

Lucius's two guards stepped in front and opened the door, waiting to escort Lucius off the grounds. With a straight back, Lucius regally made his way towards the exit, stopping short at the door before turning to regard his son.

"Draco, you may believe that I do not understand what it means to be indebted to another, but I do." He briefly glanced over at Ginny and frowned somewhat disapprovingly before stiffly adding, "I may not approve, but I _understand_."

And with that, he was gone.

**.**

**.**

**.**

After the uncomfortable encounter with Lucius and recounting all that they could about the Time-Turner to Professor McGonagall, the two time-travelling students finally stumbled out of the headmistress's office to their respective beds.

Several hours had passed since their return to their time and it was well-past curfew. Draco, deciding to be a gentleman, escorted Ginny to the towers. The two tried their best to avoid talking about what Lucius had said (or revealed) the entire way.

As they approached the hallway to the tower stairs, Ginny suddenly came to a halt and let out a sharp curse, searching the ground in a panic while she clutched her hand to her chest.

"Merlin's pants! I lost two of my buttons."

Draco sneaked a furtive glance at the redhead's cleavage before slipping his hands into his pockets. "Be glad that's all you lost today."

"I guess you're right," Ginny agreed with a sigh, rubbing a palm along her bare collar. "So, are we just going to pretend that your father _didn't_ figure out who we were back in 1975?"

Draco lightly tossed Lucius's cane in the air and caught it. "That's the general plan."

"And his little 'I may not approve' speech?" she added with a grin, the buttons of her blouse entirely forgotten. "Whatever _that_ meant."

Draco twirled the cane and slowly sauntered towards her. "Yes, we're pretending he never said _that_ either."

"So what exactly are we remembering from that discussion?" Ginny asked coyly, and Draco merely smirked.

He took a step towards her, causing her to back up against the wall. He slowly leaned forward and placed his free hand flat against the wall beside her head.

"That I am now filthy rich, of course," he said in a low timbre that made her judder. "Care to get dirty with me, Weasley?"

Draco's gaze drifted downwards to the shadowed décolletage of her unbuttoned blouse and Ginny blushed under his intense scrutiny.

"Uh, I'm going to pretend that you meant that last part in the nicest, least sexual way possible."

"Sexual?" Draco feigned umbrage, pushing himself off the wall. "You have a perverted mind, Miss Weasley."

"Whatever." Ginny rolled her eyes, but the heat from his gaze didn't leave her. "At least I never made out with my _mum_!"

Draco suddenly hovered over her again and pushed against the wall. "I will pay you vast amounts of gold to _never_ mention that again."

Ginny tilted her chin up so that her lips barely brushed against his. "What, no _threats_ from Draco Malfoy?"

Draco smirked. "I think you've figured out that my threats against you are idle."

His eyes lingered on her lips and she unconsciously flicked her tongue out to wet them. "So... is this where we go back to hating each other?"

"I suppose so." He brought the tip of the cane to her lips. "But I have to tell you, Weasley, that I really don't have it in me to hate you anymore."

She coloured at the sincerity of his words and tried her best not to squirm under his gaze. "What do you suggest we do, then?"

"I haven't a clue," he said slowly, lowering his mouth to hers, his eyes half-lidded with desire. "But it's not like we need to decide right here and now."

Ginny took in a deep breath and glanced down at her feet, unable to look him in the eye. In turn, Draco put an index finger underneath her chin and lifted; warm brown eyes met his grey. He offered her one of his rare smiles and he gently cupped her jaw, closing his eyes as he lowered his lips to hers.

"Malfoy, I can't." She tentatively put her hands on his chest and pushed him away. "I-I'm with _Harry_."

Draco, however, would not be easily dissuaded. He pushed her back against the wall, his expression mercurial.

"You were with Potter when you kissed my father and _me_."

"But it's different now," she said, feebly glancing away, knowing the fight was quickly leaving her.

"Really, now?"

Draco stood back and gripped his father's cane tightly in his hand. Ginny met his eyes, noting the raging emotions subtly shifting in their steely depths.

"Well then, Weasley, I guess you're just going to have to dump Potter because I don't exactly share well—or at all, in fact."

His grey eyes locked with hers and she felt all the air vacuum from her lungs. The look he gave her was that of determination. He had made up his mind. Could she make up hers?

"I can't, I..." She paused, searching his eyes as she searched her soul.

Ginny knew things were different between her and Draco now. She still cared for Harry. He would always be her hero and her first crush, but she knew her original feelings for him had changed. Four months ago she had been dating Lucius Malfoy, for Merlin's sake! So much for her being some loyal Gryffindor.

Besides, in the end it wasn't Lucius whom she liked. It was Draco. Draco who saved her life; Draco who made her laugh; Draco who made her blush; Draco who made her feel alive. It would always be Draco.

"I think I'm going to tell Harry that I need some space while I figure things out," she said slowly, not quite believing the words that were coming out of her mouth.

Draco smirked. "So are you going to quantify the amount of space you need?"

"What do you mean?"

Draco shrugged. "Well, I mean is this space the exact height, depth and breadth as Potter?"

Ginny let out a short laugh and shook her head before offering him a shy smile. Only Draco would make a pompous joke about Harry at a time like this. Draco smiled back, that beautiful smile of his, and the two stood in the hallway, silently observing the other before he finally turned and headed towards his own dormitories.

"Well, whatever you do, Weasley—" he turned around so that he was walking backwards and talking to her at the same time "—I expect to see Potter at breakfast tomorrow with puffy, red eyes." He smirked and then gave her a cheeky wink. "I didn't save your life so that you could be with _him_."

Suddenly Ginny was sprinting across the hall and leaping into Draco's arms. Surprised, Draco caught the redhead and stumbled backwards, letting out a muffled yelp of surprise as Ginny wrapped her arms around his neck and brought her lips to his. The kiss was hot and wet, devouring. There was no art to it, but there was passion and longing, and when it finally ended, the two drew away in breathless wonder, their minds empty of all thought.

"I've been waiting for you to do that again since 1975," he said breathlessly, bringing a free hand to her cheek.

"Long wait, that," she said, standing on her toes to reach his lips.

Draco responded by bending down, capturing her lips with his. The kiss was more thorough this time, letting the sensation linger. When he finally released her, she slowly drew back but he pulled her in closer, possessively.

"Hey, now don't regret this, Weasley," Draco said warningly. "I know you Gryffindors are _supposed_ to be loyal—stock trait and all."

"Oh, I don't regret this, Malfoy," she admitted, grinning evilly. "Besides, I've done much worse in the past, especially with your father."

"Ugh, _please_," Draco protested, looking as though he was about to vomit. "I don't want to know this."

Ginny laughed and put a hand to his chest. "I _am_ loyal, Malfoy, but the heart wants what the heart wants."

"As does the libido."

He feinted to the left, avoiding the redhead's right cross, and caught her wrist with a smirk.

"Prat!" she cursed with a grin. "So... I'll see you tomorrow?"

Draco smiled and nodded, bending down to deliver another soft kiss to her wanting lips. "Tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that for a _very_ long time."

Ginny couldn't help but blush at the clichéd line and stood up on her toes to steal another kiss. "Until you get bored of me?" she asked teasingly.

"Weasley—_Ginny_, I don't think I could ever get bored of you."

Draco gave her another kiss and let go of her hand, turning around to head towards his own dormitory before the two were caught. Ginny watched him go, giving him a goofy grin when he looked back over his shoulder. Once he disappeared around the corner, she let out a content sigh and began her way to the Gryffindor Tower.

Maybe this was the big change: the relationship between her and Draco. All it took was for them to spend some time with each other in the past—and saving each other's lives.

The mo-vees weren't real, Ginny had finally come to realise. This was no fairy tale ending. Draco was still Draco: he was the boy who had tried to kill Dumbledore and who had let Death Eaters into the school. He was still a Malfoy and their families would probably never get along. However, he was now the boy who had clumsily and painfully defended her honour against his own father and saved her life.

Maybe this was the real change.

The change itself was something internal and it was an experience that could only be shared by the two of them. In the face of all opposition, Ginny Weasley and Draco Malfoy had forged an unlikely friendship and maybe even something more.

Life didn't always have to go according to plan. They could make it up as they went along. And, for some reason, this notion oddly comforted Ginny, as did the feeling of satin smooth lips pressed against hers.

So with an impish grin on her face, Ginny skipped all the way to the dormitories, content that nothing in her world had changed—nothing on the surface at least. She slid her palm along the wall, feeling the texture of the stone, not even noticing the numerous picture frames of the former Ministers for Magic that lined it.

One frame did stick out though, as it was the picture of the current Minister for Magic: _Argus Filch_.

**.**

**.**

**.**

**The End**

* * *

**Author's notes: **I bet you didn't see that one coming. It was a cute ending and you know it! ^_~

* * *

_Thank you to everyone who came along for the ride, and for those who endured a fic named after a pregnancy prevention pill. Yup, I did not think that one through (although, to be fair, I had no idea)... ~Lia_


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